Paper Mario: What REALLY Happened
by LittleMeister93
Summary: This is what really went down whilst Mario was rescuing the seven Star Spirits from Bowser's clutches.
1. Prologue

It was any ordinary day in the Mushroom Kingdom. Ordinary... if you like kidnappings. Yet again, Bowser, the absurdly evil Koopa king, kidnapped Princess Peach. Typical scenario.

The seven Star Spirits, who were meant to guard the precious Star Rod, had gone away from Star Haven, and so had left the rod unguarded. Bowser broke in, stole the rod and made himself invincible.

_Meanwhile..._

At the home of the Mario Bros., Mario received a letter. It said:

Dear Mario,

I have been kidnapped. Please gather the seven Star Spirits!

Signed,

Princess Peach

"Huh? Not again. I'm-a little bored of saving Princess Peach now, but I'm-a gonna have to!" Mario grumbled.

"Uh, well... if you're going, Bro, I'll look after the house." Luigi said. After saying goodbye to his brother, Mario set off to his first destination - Goomba Village.


	2. Chapter 1

It had taken Mario 2 hours to reach Goomba Village, and he was very tired. He had no leads on the whereabouts of the Star Spirits or, more importantly, Princess Peach.

"I'm-a thinking of giving up very soon. There's just-a no point. But I have to keep-a looking!" Mario said to himself.

Now, Goomba Village is very very small. Only a single family of Goombas and a Toad live here. Mario knew that he wouldn't get much information here, but he had to keep going. He went up to the first Goomba in the vicinity.

"Hello. I'm-a Mario. I'm-a looking for a lead on where I can find Princess Peach. She's-a been kidnapped." Mario began. The Goomba looked puzzled.

"Welcome to the village, Mario. I'm Goompapa, the Goomba father. I don't know where Princess Peach is right now, but you might be able to get a better lead if you ask my father, Goompa." Goompapa replied. Mario took his advice and went up to the house. He knocked on the door and waited. A female voice called,

"Come in!" Mario opened the door and stepped inside. Inside was a very old female Goomba. She told Mario that her name was Gooma.

"Thanks for the welcome, Gooma. I'm-a Mario, and I'm-a looking for Princess Peach. Goompapa told me to look for Goompa. Is he around?" Mario said. Gooma replied that he was outside, fixing the veranda out the back. Thanking Gooma, Mario went to the back door, opened it and stepped out.

He wished he hadn't.

There was no veranda there, only thin air. Mario fell down and landed softly (well, he is made of paper, after all). And there was Goompa. He came up to Mario and said that the veranda had collapsed whilst he was fixing it.

"Not only that, but I dropped the Hammer I was using to fix it! It must be around here somewhere..." Goompa complained. Mario thought for a second.

"I'm-a gonna help you look for it!" he said enthusiastically. Goompa followed him to a clearing with shrubs growing wildly everywhere. Mario shook the shrubs and something fell out of one. It was the Hammer.

"Ah! That's it!" Goompa exclaimed. But then...

"Hey! No-one goes into my playground without my say-so!" said a shrill voice. Goompa looked behind him and told Mario that this was Jr. Troopa, a neighbourhood bully.

"Yeah, you with the moustache! How dare you barge in here and mess up my greenery! Yaaaaaaaaah!" Jr. Troopa screamed, and then he barged into Mario, knocking him to the floor. Mario picked himself up and swung the Hammer into Jr. Troopa. It knocked him clean out.

"Let's-a go!" Mario shouted to Goompa. The two of them ran back to the village, panting. Goombario and Goombaria, the two youngest Goombas, were waiting for them.

"I was so worried, Goompa!" Goombaria said. She then went on to tell Goompa that she and Goombario had been looking for him for the past hour.

But then...

"Nyeah heh heh heh!" laughed a very sinister voice. It was Kammy Koopa.

"Huh? Who IS that freak?" Goombario yelled.

"Mweh heh heh heh heh! I just came to check on Mario. And he's alive! King Bowser WILL be displeased..." Kammy Koopa said sinisterly. "I would kill him now, but I won't. Try to reach Shooting Star Summit now!"

Mario gasped. Shooting Star Summit! The closest place to Star Haven! He started walking towards the summit, but Goombario stopped him.

"I'm coming with you!" he yelled. and so Mario and Goombario set off to Shooting Star Summit together.


	3. Chapter 2

It had been 5 minutes since Mario and Goombario had left Goomba Village to reach Shooting Star Summit. They had to go along Goomba Road, through Toad Town, and them walk to the summit. It seemed like an impossibly long journey.

"OK, so we're now on the move. This is gonna take some time." Goombario sighed. He had never had to walk for more than 3 minutes without a break.

"Don't you worry, Goombario. I'm-a gonna make sure we get there fast." Mario said in reassurance.

_But..._

"Hey, punks! What are you doing, walking in a place like this? You're trespassing!" someone called. Mario saw who had said it. It was a red Goomba that was twice the size of Goombario. He was walking in front of a blue Goomba, about the same size as the red one. Both looked very intimidating.

"What? Who the heck are you?" Goombario shouted to the red Goomba. The red Goomba replied that he and the blue Goomba were brothers.

"Wait a minute. You guys... ah-hah! You want to go save that Princess Peach, don't you? The Goomba King won't allow this. Let's get them!" the blue Goomba yelled.

"It's-a party time!" Mario said, and then he took out his trusty Hammer, ready to deal out some major damage. Goombario braced himself, so he could headbonk with severe consequences. The two Goomba brothers also braced themselves.

"CHAAAAAAARGE!" Goombario screamed, and he ran up to the red Goomba and headbonked him. The blue Goomba headbonked Mario. Mario retaliated by swinging his Hammer at the blue Goomba, knocking him out. He also did the same to the red Goomba.

"Heh! That was easy." Goombario said triumphantly.

"Too easy." a voice said as the owner of the voice knocked Mario to the floor. It was the Goomba King.

"You creepy... beast!" Goombario yelled, and then he went to headbonk the Goomba King. It slowed him down enough to allow Mario to get up, brace himself and swing his Hammer with enough force to smash bricks. It knocked the Goomba King down and out.

"All right! Now let's get on down to Shooting Star Summit!" Goombario said. And so the two headed off.


	4. Chapter 3

Meanwhile, Peach was walking around in the room she had been captured in. She sighed.

"Oh, why the heck do I always get kidnapped?" she said to herself. Suddenly, two Hammer Bros. came through the door.

"Uh, Princess Peach! You're lookin' good today." the first Hammer Bro said.

"Who are you?" Peach asked. The other Hammer Bro turned round and said,

"We are the Hammer Bros.! And we're here to help you. I'm called Sam Hammer, and the other one is Duncan Disorderly." Sam said.

"Sam, you got my name wrong AGAIN. I'm called Duncan MITCHELL!" Duncan said in frustration. Peach looked at the two Hammer Bros. for a second. She knew that they worked for Bowser, so why should she trust them?

"How will you guys help me?" Peach asked in a firm voice. Sam gave her a doubting look.

"We know a secret route out of the castle. We heard that Mario was one of the coolest dudes around, so we wanna help you escape so you can see him again." Sam said to her. Peach sighed and said that she would trust them.

"Alright, follow my lead." Duncan ordered. So Peach, Sam and Duncan made their way ooutside the door. Suddenly they were stopped by a Koopatrol.

"Guys, Peach isn't supposed to leave the room!" the Koopatrol shouted.

"Nonsense, Spiky Joe! The King wishes to see Peach!" Sam argued.

"Shut your trap, Sam! His Awfulness hasn't breathed a WORD about seeing Peach. Take her back inside that room, NOW!" Spiky Joe argued back.

"But wait... Spiky Joe, we gotta escort her to the bathroom." Duncan said in the hopes that Spiky Joe would soften and let them pass. The Koopatrol sighed.

"OK, guys. Hurry though. We're not allowed to let Peach out! If he finds you guys, I am SO gonna get wasted." Spiky Joe said. It was then that Sam Hammer, Duncan Mitchell and Princess Peach set off under the false pretence that they were headed for the bathroom.

"That guy was rough, but he's toothpaste when you know how to soften him a bit." Duncan said whilst they escorted Princess Peach to the designated escape route.

_Meanwhile..._

"Alright, Princess. We're here to... WHAT THE...? She's escaped!" Bowser roared as he entered the room.

"She's GONE?" Kammy Koopa asked.

"Spiky Joe, report!" Bowser yelled. Spiky Joe came running.

"You called, sir?" Spiky Joe asked gingerly.

"Where's the princess?"

"Uh, I... um... what?"

"Where the heck is Princess Peach? Answer me, minion!"

"Uh... um... Agh. Princess Peach is in the bathroom!" Spiky Joe shouted.

"She's not allowed to leave the room, Spiky Joe. Who escorted her? NAMES!" Bowser roared. Spiky Joe was getting very nervous. The Koopa king smelled worse than a landfill site.

"I, uh... don't know, sir..."

"DON'T LIE TO ME, MINION! GIVE ME NAMES! YOU KNOW EVERYONE ELSE'S NAME, NOW ANSWER ME!" Bowser roared with such ferocity that it almost blew Spiky Joe clean out of his shell. He then said,

"It was Sam Hammer and Duncan Disorderly... I-I mean Duncan Mitchell. They're responsible."

"WHAAAAAAAAT?" Bowser yelled. He couldn't believe the fact that his two most loyal Hammer Bros. would make such a stupid mistake.

"Kammy, I want you to find those two. When you do, bring them to me. I will deal with those traitor swine." Bowser said to Kammy Koopa.

"Yes, Your Evilness!" Kammy replied.


	5. Chapter 4

After a horribly long walk from Goomba Village to Toad Town, Mario and Goombario finally took a rest. They had stopped by the Toad Town Dojo, so they could watch some fools getting KO'd left, right and centre (or so Goombario said, anyway). After their rest, they made their way towards Shooting Star Summit. And there, Mario was greeted by Eldstar, the elder of the Star Spirits.

"Mario, we need your help. We've all been imprisoned by Bowser, and we cannot escape from his clutches. Our powers are weak. You must help us." Eldstar said.

"OK, I'm-a gonna help you. Where do I begin? This is a-gonna get confusing." Mario said. Eldstar replied that he was trapped in the Koopa Bros. Fortress, and so now they had a lead.

"But you can't go there straight away. There is a village nearby. A Koopa Troopa with a blue shell can help you. Go and get him." Eldstar said, and then he faded away. He'd exhausted all of his power.

"Hmmm, we'd better get going. First, we'd better go back to your place. I hope your house is OK." Goombario said, and then the two set off for Mario's house. Luigi was waiting for him.

"Hey, Bro! Glad to see you're alive!" Luigi said. Just then, a Goomba came along. He didn't look where he was going and ran smack-bang into a tree. He glared at Luigi like he was a sexy Goomba girl. He ran over.

"Hello, you saxy thing. Rawr." the Goomba said.

"Mamamia!" Mario and Luigi said together. In a hurry, the two Mario Bros. and Goombario headed back down the pipe to Toad Town and ran east, towards Mario's intended destination - Koopa Village. Luckily, by the time they got there, the Goomba was nowhere to be seen. They walked into the village... and there was CHAOS.


	6. Chapter 5

Just exactly what sort of weird things were going on back at Bowser's Castle? Well, Sam Hammer and Duncan Mitchell, two of the Hammer Bros., had helped Princess Peach escape from her room where she was being kept prisoner. But, the three didn't have a plan yet. So, they had to think of one, and fast.

"So, you're gonna help me escape, are you? What's your plan?" Princess Peach asked.

"Uh, we don't have one yet..." Sam sighed. Peach gasped. What's the point of helping someone escape if you don't have a plan?

"We'll think of one soon, don't worry." Duncan said reassuringly, but the princess was far from convinced.

"Wait a minute. I'm not sure if he'll keep it secret, but... didn't we tell Spiky Joe that we were takin' Peach to the bathroom? If he lets that out, he'd better watch his shell, because I will do him in, personally." Sam muttered. Duncan replied that he had a sneaking suspicion that Spiky Joe might have let it out, because just then, four Koopatrols and Kammy Koopa walked past. They whispered things about "throwing off Peach" and "sorting out those traitor Hammer Bros.".

"If Spiky Joe thinks he's safe, he's got another thing comin'." Sam whispered to Duncan and Peach.

"But for now, why don't we get ourselves an escape plan?" Peach suggested quietly. And so the threesome pondered over how they were going to escape from the castle.


	7. Chapter 6

Mario, Luigi and Goombario had run away from the Mario Bros. house because of some crazy loved-up Goomba who was trying to date Luigi. They had run towards Mario's intended destination, Koopa Village. And it was horribly chaotic.

"Help! That stupid thing has got my shell!" one Koopa cried as he tried (and failed) to get his shell back from the thing that has stolen his shell. They were human tourists who were NOT from the Mushroom Kingdom.

"This'd make a good memento. I just love the shell of a Koopa Troopa." one of the tourists said. Mario ran over to the tourist and tried to wrestle the shell out of her grasp. She wouldn't let go.

"Hey, You'd-a better give this shell back to the Koopa you a-stole it from." Mario said, but the tourist ran off giggling. Mario, Luigi and Goombario kept going through the village, and saw that the tourists had taken all the shells and tried to pass them off as their own. But then they got bored and gave them all back, but there was still one Koopa without a shell. Mario went over to greet him.

"Hey, My name's-a Mario. Who are you?" Mario greeted the shell-less Koopa.

"Oh, hello. My name's Kooper. Some damn tourist stole my shell. He's in my house, bouncing around like a demented Fuzzy. I'll guard the door, and you go grab my shell off him." Kooper replied, and so Mario went in to Kooper's house, grabbed the tourist and wrestled the sapphire-blue shell he was holding out of his grasp. He (the tourist) then ran off.

"I don't care that that idiot nicked my shell. I'm gonna go out there and smite everyone, shell or not!" Kooper said bravely. Goombario said that they already got the shell back, and so Mario presented the shell to Kooper. He put it on and was so relieved.

"Thank you so much! I now have my shell back, and I will be delivering shell-shocks left, right and centre now!" Kooper said, and then he asked Mario if he could join him. Mario said yes, and then went on to explain about the Star Spirits and the kidnapping of Princess Peach. So, the three of them went to the Koopa Bros. Fortress... and Luigi stayed behind in the village.


	8. Chapter 7

Meanwhile, n a small cubby-hole in Bowser's Castle, Sam Hammer, Duncan Mitchell and Princess Peach were discussing how they could escape, and now they had a plan. They were going to use the sewer system as an escape route. There was a manhole in the same cubby-hole as where they were, so they went down into the dark, damp, smelly sewers.

"It's too dark in here... HEY! Watch your step, Bigfoot!"

"You trod on my shell, you moron."

"You're standing on my dress!"

"Get off my toe. I said get OFF!"

"Thanks for being so supportive. I guess. Supportive enough to stand on my leg!"

Finally, the threesome came to another manhole. Sam went up, pushed open the cover and climbed out. Duncan and Peach followed closely behind. Somehow, this place gave the threesome a feeling of deja vu.

"I've got a feelin' that we're still in the castle." Sam said disappointingly. Suddenly, someone came up to Sam. It was Spiky Joe.

"Hey, what're you doin' here? Did you tell His Noxiousness that we had escorted Peach to the bathroom?" Sam asked firmly. Spiky Joe looked very nervous.

"Uh, I had to. He kept on going at me until I said about you. I tried to tell him that I didn't know, but it seems that he's not that dumb." Spiky Joe replied. It was true, however. Lord Bowser wasn't as stupid as he looked.

"Alright. So you couldn't do anythin' without grassin' us up. I see. Well, your dignity is safe for the moment." Sam said, and then he proceeded to ask Spiky Joe if he wanted to tag along. He said yes.

"How the heck are we gonna get out now? We can't escape through the sewers, OR the front door, so what now?" Duncan said. Sam told him that they must have come up a manhole too early, so he, Duncan, Peach and Spiky Joe went back down the sewer and trudged down further, and came up 5 manholes later. They had appeared outside the Koopa Bros. Fortress.

"I hope that we're very far away from that horrible castle." Peach said, and so the foursome started walking up to the front door of the fortress.


	9. Chapter 8

It had been a long 20 minutes since Mario, Goombario and Kooper had set off for the Koopa Bros. Fortress, and they were finally here.

"This doesn't seem too good..." Goombario said, but then they all entered the fortress, not knowing what lay beyond the heavy wooden door.

Meanwhile...

Outside the fortress, Sam Hammer had just seen Mario and his party enter the fortress. He ran to tell Princess Peach.

"Mario's gone in there. Should we go in, or should we stay out?" he asked. Peach replied that they should go in. The group, which consisted of Peach, Sam, Spiky Joe and Duncan Mitchell, entered the fortress not long after Mario and his party had.

Just ahead, Kooper heard funny noises. He thought that someone had come in to tail Mario and hunt him down.

"Uh, Mario... I think someone's following us. I think we should investigate." he said, and then he looked behind him. On the cold stone wall, there was a shadow of a Koopatrol floating there. The threesome braced themselves for a fight.

"It's-a Bowser's minions! We've-a gotta get rid of them!" Mario yelled, and then they got ready for a fight.

Meanwhile, the owner of the shadow, Spiky Joe, rounded the corner and got a shock. Mario, Goombario and Kooper looked like they were ready to beat him up and leave him there to suffer. Quickly, he called to Sam and Duncan to bring Princess Peach up. They did so, and then Spiky Joe shouted,

"Mario, don't hurt me! Me and two of my friends have found and rescued Princess Peach for you!"

"Why would-a you help me, though?" Mario asked quizically. Spiky Joe replied with an explanation of the situation in Bowser's castle, the fact that he and his friends were being so overworked, and that he didn't want to be a baddie anymore. Mario accepted this, and then Sam Hammer and Duncan Mitchell escorted Princess Peach up to Mario.

"I'm-a glad to see that you're-a safe, Princess. But we're-a still gonna get those Star Spirits." Mario said, and then he allowed the two Hammer Bros. and the Koopatrol to join him, along with Princess Peach.


	10. Chapter 9

"Where are they? I NEED to know!" Bowser roared as he walked around the large stone table. One of the Hammer Bros. suddenly piped up,

"Where's who?"

"I've had three minions disappear. Two are traitors and one has gone AWOL."

"Who?" a Koopatrol asked.

"The traitors are Sam Hammer and Duncan Mitchell. The AWOL minion is Joe Anderson aka Spiky Joe."

"Uh, well I was on patrol near the entrance, and a manhole cover shifted aside, and a Hammer Brother came out, along with a lass in a pink dress." another Koopatrol said.

"Did you see WHO this Hammer Brother was?"

"Nope. Just saw the trademark helmet and shell."

"Well that was useful."

"Ah. Uh, we'd better find them, I guess."

"But WHERE, though? THINK, minion!"

"I know where those three are!" another Hammer Bro piped up.

"Go on, where are they?"

"In the Koopa Bros. Fortress!"

"Thank you, minion. Now let's go and get them." Bowser said, and all the Hammer Bros. and Koopatrols cleared the table and got ready to go to the Koopa Bros. Fortress.


	11. Chapter 10

Now that Mario and Princess Peach are reunited, most would say that this is the end. IT AIN'T. After all, Bowser is still at large, so that has to be sorted first.

"Well, surely this Star Spirit shouldn't be too hard to find." Sam Hammer said as they walked further into the fortress. This brash young Hammer Brother had joined the party after helping Princess Peach escape and reunited her with Mario. He seemed troubled at this moment in time.

"Hold it. We should-a be looking for clues... Wait, Sam... what's up? You're-a looking down." Mario said.

"Ah, Mario... it's just that... oh, y'know... with the runaway from the castle and everythin'... I, uh... don't want Kammy Koopa or Bowser finding me. All because I wanted to hang out with the best!" Sam replied.

Soon, the party arrived at a door. A Koopa came walking out. He was shocked when he saw Mario and the party.

"Oh heck! Mario's arrived!" he said as he ran back through the door. Somehow there was suspicion arising.

"Wait! That was one of the Koopa Bros.! They now know we're here!" Sam panicked.

"Don't-a worry. We're-a well prepared." Mario replied. Then, the party proceeded through the door and were greeted by four very angry Koopas. They were the Koopa Bros. alright. It seemed like there was going to be a huge fight.

"Ah-HAH! You're here for this, aren'tcha?" the leader of the Koopa Bros. said as he held up a card with a picture of a star on it. The leader was wearing a red mask that was tied at the back and had a red coloured shell. The card he was holding had a picture of a moustachio'd star on the front and Bowser's insignia on the back.

"What... IS that?" Princess Peach gasped.

"That's-a the Star Spirit, trapped within the card. Seems-a like Bowser wanted them captured in the cards." Mario replied. The other Koopa Bros. all had different colours, but they were the same (with the masks tied at the back, green gloves and boots, and shells. One had a green mask and shell, one had a black mask and shell, and the last one had a yellow mask and shell. And they all looked ready for action.

"Do you want the card? Course you do." Green said. The Koopa Bros. names are unknown, so they are just referred to as the colour of their shell.

"Or else you wouldn't be here." Black snarled. (Black was always the sinister minister of the bunch, so he always speaks with a snarl or a sneer).

"That's-a true. But are you-a gonna give me the card or do I have to-a fight you?" Mario questioned. The Koopa Bros. looked at each other. Then Red stepped in front of Mario and said,

"No. You don't have to fight us. We were getting bored of guarding this stupid Star Spirit, anyway." and then he handed the card to Mario. The card then swirled above Mario's hands and transformed into Eldstar, the Star Spirit that had been trapped here!

"Now, you guys... you'd better go. But before you do, beat us up. So it looked like you had a fight." Yellow said, and then Mario's party beat up the Koopa Bros. so it looked like there had been a massive brawl before Mario had finally rescued Eldstar (although there wasn't).

The party made their way outside the fortress with Eldstar in tow. Then the Star Spirit granted Mario a special power, called Refresh. This power would recover Mario and the party from minor injuries and general fatigue.

"Now I must leave. Call upon me if your party becomes weary." Eldstar said, and then he vanished to Star Haven, leaving the party standing outside the fortress.

"Let's go back to Toad Town. We're done here." Sam said, and then the party went back to Toad Town to recuperate and find new leads onto the whereabouts of the next Star Spirit.


	12. Chapter 11

Bowser and six Koopatrols came storming through the Koopa Bros. Fortress in the hopes of stopping Mario and sorting out some runaways. When they got to the Koopa Bros. quarters, they went inside. There, the Koopa Bros. were lying in odd positions.

"What HAPPENED to you lot?" Bowser roared.

"Ugh," Red groaned, "Mario and his gang got here, beat us up and took off with the Star Spirit."

"Beat you up, huh. No sign of much of a fight. Are you sure that's what happened?"

"Positive, Master Bowser. Well, during the fight, Green dropped the card. Mario snatched it and legged it with Peach, a couple of Hammer Bros., a Koopatrol, another Koopa and a Goomba."

"Hm. Didn't do much damage to you."

"Think about it. We used our shells." Bowser didn't look convinced.

"You handed it over without a fight, and then told Mario to beat you up! You useless fools."

"Hold it!" Black snapped.

"What's your problem?" Bowser grunted.

"How the heck did you know?"

"Oh, so it WAS that, hmm? Well well. Time you faced the music. You're hopeless."

"NO! DON'T!" Yellow shouted.

It was then that Bowser edged forward, and the Koopa Bros. screamed.


	13. Chapter 12

Mario and his party had just arrived back at Toad Town from the Koopa Bros. Fortress. Along with Mario, the party consisted of Princess Peach, Sam Hammer, Duncan Mitchell, Spiky Joe, Kooper and Goombario. Just as they got to the entrance of the post office, Princess Peach said to Mario and the gang,

"I have to go. I'm not going to be much good to the party, because I've got as much fight as a lettuce leaf."

"That's-a fine, Princess." Mario replied. Peach then flounced off, her ankle-length dress fluttering as she walked. Mario turned to the rest of the party.

"Hey, We should-a start looking for the next-a Star Spirit. Where do you-a reckon we should go?" he asked. The party pondered over it for a short while, until...

"M... Mario, can you... h... hear me?" a faint voice said. Mario turned to where the voice had sounded from.

"I'm-a hearing your voice right-a now! Who-a is it?" Mario asked.

"I... I am Mamar, one of the... Star Spirits. I h... have come to t... tell you where I am being held."

"Come now. Do tell, noble Star Spirit." Sam said to Mamar. Mamar replied,

"I... am... being held... in... Dry Dry Ruins... but... you can't... get... there... strai-" and then Mamar faded. She had exhausted her power to talk to Mario.

"How in the world do we get to Dry Dry Ruins?" Duncan asked. Just then, a Paratroopa came out of the post office (INFO BURST: A Paratroopa is a Koopa Troopa with wings). He looked panicky.

"You guys! I need your help!" the Paratroopa whimpered.

"Huh. What's up?" Sam asked.

"Parakarry was meant to be finished delivering a bunch of letters to Dry Dry Outpost, but he hasn't returned yet! He's supposed to tell me if he needs a break before returning, but... nothing! You guys have to help!"

"OK. How do we get to Dry Dry Outpost? We may see him on the way there."

"Take the train to Mt. Rugged. Here, I'll give you all a ticket." He reached into his mailbag and pulled out six tickets. He handed one to each of them.

"Now hurry! The mail service of the Mushroom Kingdom depends on it!" and then he went back into the post office. Sam looked at the rest of the party. They were all puzzled and overworked.

"Hm. So, we've also gotta help Parakarry as well as savin' Mamar? Yet we don't know where Dry Dry Ruins is. Maybe we should ask around Dry Dry Outpost." Sam said.

"When we get there." Duncan added.

"IF we get there." Spiky Joe grumbled. Saying that, the party set off on the train to Mt. Rugged, and got ready for the next part of their wild adventure.


	14. Chapter 13

The Koopa Bros., who had done nothing wrong apart from give Mario a Star Spirit without a fight, were being dragged back to Bowser's Castle by a group of Koopatrols. They all looked so nervous, and they had no idea as to what would become of them. Red, the leader of the Koopa Bros., was trying to stay calm, but inside he was scared witless. He knew he'd be in for it.

"In there." Bowser roared, motioning to the Koopatrols to take the Koopa Bros. inside where he had just pointed. There were four spindly wooden chairs arranged in a row, a variety of knives laid out on a table, a selection of three whips - a thin whip, a cat o' nine tails and a knout, and a bucket of red hot coals with slender metal rods inside that looked like a bizarre bucket of marshmallows.

"No, don't do it!" Yellow pleaded. Bowser struck him across the face.

"Too late to beg. You should've thought about that before you gave the Star Spirit to Mario, shouldn't you?" Bowser laughed. He motioned to the Koopatrols to tie the Koopa Bros. to the spindly chairs and then they left (after they had tied the Koopa Bros. to the chairs, obviously). Bowser then picked up the thin whip off the table and turned to face Red.

"Sooo," Bowser said, "you've been disobeying orders AND helping out my arch-rival. That's worthy of a severe punishment, you know."

"Yeah, well... you know... we're bored of helping you now." Black snarled. Bowser rounded onto him with a speed that would make Speedy Gonzales seem slow, like a slug.

"YOU IDIOT! How could you possibly hope to get away with something like this? You know what you are?"

"Go on - tell me." Black sneered, sounding like he was challenging Bowser.

"You're a..." Bowser began.

"Get on with it! Or are you too scared to say much more?" Black snarled, this time in a much darker, sinister tone.

"Yeah, tell us!" Green snapped.

"You are... you're..." Bowser said again, slightly shaken.

"Ha, he's toothpaste now! C'MON, Bad-Smell-in-a-Shell!" Black snapped, his voice filled with an inhuman fury.

"Call yourself a torture expert? HAH! You numpty." Red yelled.

"Now, let us go!" Yellow shouted. Bowser stood there, trembling slightly with the thin whip in his hand. He dropped it on the floor and untied the Koopa Bros. from the chairs. He then sat down on the floor, deathly pale - as though he had seen millions of ghosts.

"Let's get outta here." Red said, and then the Koopa Bros. ran out of the torture room and out of the castle perimeter. The Koopatrols standing guard didn't even attempt to halt them, they just let them run past. As soon as they were far enough away, Black said to the rest of the gang (in his slightly snarly voice),

"One of us should team up with Mario. After all, we should give him more help. I'm sick of being a baddie." The other Koopa Bros. nodded in unison, and then they pondered over who was going to join Mario and Co.. They decided that Black would go. Red told Black to always help - never hinder, and hugged him goodbye.

"See you later, guys." Black said with a small sneer, and then he ran off to Mt. Rugged, which was where Mario and Co. were headed next. He'd managed to find this out through a bit of eavesdropping when he had seen three Koopatrols having a chat.


	15. Chapter 14

After 45 minutes on the Dry Dry Railway, Mario, Spiky Joe, Sam Hammer, Duncan Mitchell, Goombario and Kooper had arrived at Mt. Rugged. There's no point in explaining how bored and stiff (or bored stiff) the party were, because that'd just be making you bored and stiff (or bored stiff). However, they were bored witless, and stiff with sitting in that humid train for 45 minutes.

"Crikey, I'll never sit in there again. It felt like a durn Turkish bath!" Sam groaned as he stretched out his stiffness.

"You're-a right. I'm-a all sweaty." Mario sighed. The party then decided it was time to quit complaining and get started on their quest. They all looked up at Mt. Rugged. They could see that the rocks were sticking out in a very rugged manner (hence why the mountain is called 'rugged'). Spiky Joe thought for a second, and then he looked up at the mountain. Something halfway up made him gasp. It looked like a Paratroopa, stuck on the mountain's edge!

"Uh, guys... I think... we'd better get to him up there." Spiky Joe said, pointing at the Paratroopa.

"OK. Let's shove off." Sam ordered. The party started to scale the mountain. It was exhausting, only it was worse because the sun's heat was slicing through them. Sometimes, they lost their footing. Other times, they had to stop and wipe the sweat off. And at other times (although this was rarer than the other times the party stopped), the Koopa members of the party had to empty sloshing sweat out of their shells. They clambered up and round the mountain until they found the abandoned Paratroopa. He was lying face-down on a small ledge on the mountain face, his wings twitching very weakly.

"I'll see to him. Guys, stay here." Sam said, and then he sidled round and went to check on the Paratroopa.

"Guys! I've found Parakarry!" Sam shouted. He then checked Parakarry. It seemed like he had collapsed from the heat and was also fairly dehydrated.

"Hey, is he a-gonna be OK?" Mario asked. Sam replied that he needed some help getting Parakarry to a nearby town or village. The party responded quickly, picking Parakarry up and heading in the general direction of Dry Dry Outpost. Just then...

"Ugh... uh... where... am... I...?" Parakarry moaned. Sam looked at him.

"Oh, you're finally conscious! We're helpin' you. We saw you'd collapsed on the mountain, and so we're going to Dry Dry Outpost to fix you up." he replied.

"But... I need... to... get back... to... ugh... Toad Town... I'm...ugh..." Parakarry began, but then he fell faint again.

"Great. He's faint again." Sam grumbled.

"Hey. Look, he's dehydrated and not too well. Be patient with him, for God's sake!" Kooper yelled.

"Don't argue. Look here, Kooper. I was talkin'. And I hate it when they cut off mid-sentence!" Sam bellowed.

"Yeah, but still..." Kooper pleaded.

"Shut your piehole!" Sam roared, now boiling over with anger.

"Guys! Just-a stop it now!" Mario shouted over the arguing twosome. Kooper and Sam looked at him.

"Sorry, Mario." Kooper said.

"And-a you, Sam!" Mario said in a firm tone (a bit tricky considering his jokey-sounding Italian accent).

"Oh right! Sorry, Mario." Sam said.

The party then stopped just outside Dry Dry Outpost. It was quite a large town, what with all the heat and humidity and whatnot. They then took Parakarry inside and then asked if they could find somewhere for him to rest. Then, they sorted him out.

"Hm. He should be OK now." Goombario said after 20 minutes of silence.

"Yeah, he looks fine to me." Spiky Joe mumbled. He looked very nervous.

"Guys, I think there's something wrong with Spiky Joe." Duncan said to the rest of the party. Mario decided to check it out. He brushed his bushy moustache with one gloved finger.

"Hey, Spiky Joe. What's-a wrong?" Mario asked. Spiky Joe replied that he was nervous about going to Dry Dry Ruins, in case Bowser's minions beat them to the Star Spirit. And not just that, but if Bowser got him, because he wasn't supposed to have left the castle.

"I see. So we should-a be cautious." Mario suggested. Just then, a mumble made the party jump (Don't ask how high, I never took a ruler when I was investigating undercover).

"You lot! Over here!" It was Parakarry, and he was feeling - and sounding - a lot better.

"You're OK now! That's great stuff." Duncan said excitedly.

"Sure is better to be back on my feet. I'm not going back to Toad Town just yet - I'm going to help you lot." Parakarry said, happy to see that the party hadn't just left him to recover by himself.

"Sure you can! We're-a gonna need more help, anyway." Mario explained.

"Oh, I've not introduced myself! The name's Parakarry. I deliver letters." Parakarry said in a proud voice, bowing. The party then went on to introduce themselves.

"I'm-a Mario."

"I'm Goombario."

"Some call me Joey, but you can call me Spiky Joe."

"My name's Kooper."

"I'm Sam Hammer, and this numpty with the ribbon on his head is called Duncan Disorderly."

"Idiot! My name's Duncan Mitchell."

After the party had introduced themselves, Sam went on to explain the situation with Bowser and the Star Spirits. They then set off (stopping by the store to pick up supplies) towards Dry Dry Ruins, using a tattered old map that Parakarry had found in his mailbag.


	16. Chapter 15

Bowser, his loyal Koopatrol army and the Hammer Bros. battalion had just got back to the castle. Bowser was still very shaky, after his failed torture of the Koopa Bros. that had led to him being manipulated in ways he thought impossible.

"Hey mate, what happened?" a Koopatrol asked. Bowser didn't reply.

"Huh? You look like you've been locked up with a gaggle of Boos. Are you OK?" a Hammer Bro asked. Still, Bowser didn't reply.

"HEY!" both armies shouted. That scared Bowser even more, but he said something.

"Just leave off it. I'll get those Koopa Bros. even if I get scared to death." Bowser stammered.

"You already were, mate." the first Koopatrol said. Bowser snapped back into reality.

"FOOL! You're not going to make a mockery of me!" he roared. The Koopatrols took one step back and were silent. The Hammer Army (the other term used for the Hammer Bros. battalion) stood there and kept on chatting about the fact that Bowser had been scared by the Koopa Bros. and one said (accidentally) out loud,

"Bowser's a wimpy shrimp!" Bowser's face contorted with rage as soon as he heard that. The Koopatrols ran to the back of the room, but the Hammer Army stayed put.

"Oi! You Koopatrols! Get over here!" Bowser roared.

"Uh... you called?" the leading Koopatrol asked gingerly.

"Which one of you said that I was a wimpy shrimp? Huh?"

"Hey look, it weren't us, mate. It was those cheeky Hammer Bros.!" another Koopatrol piped up.

"Don't lie, minion. Which one was it?"

"Look at those smug Hammer Bros., thinkin' they can pull one off on us. Cheeky beggars." the leading Koopatrol said.

"Hey, idiot! I heard you!" a Hammer Bro shouted in reply.

"Yeah, look at you. You said it, moron. Guilty as charged!" another Hammer Bro shouted. Suddenly the Hammer Army was shouting at the Koopatrols, "You did it!", "You said Bowser's a wimp!" and "Only Koopatrols are stupid enough to say things like that out loud!". This was creating the effect of mob psychology, which is where when a large group agree on something, everyone around them seems to agree. Bowser rounded back on the Koopatrols.

"So, which one was it?" Bowser roared, smoke coming out of his nostrils.

"We already told you, it wasn't us! Those Hammer Bros. are pullin' one off on us!" a Koopatrol shouted in defense.

"Any evidence?" Bowser asked, smoke still billowing out of his nostrils.

"Uh, no, Master Bowser." another Koopatrol sighed.

"So it WAS you!" Bowser yelled, and then he sucked in a deep breath. He roared, and a searing hot tongue of flame came lashing out at the Koopatrols!


	17. Chapter 16

After a discussion between all four members of the Koopa Bros., it had been decided that Black would go and join Mario's party. He was still looking for them when he arrived at Toad Town. He decided to chat to one of the Toads.

"Hi there," he snarled, "my name's Black. I'm looking for Mario and his group. Have you seen 'em?"

"No, but the guy in the post office might know." the Toad replied. So, thanking the Toad, Black went into the post office and asked where Mario was, and the postmaster Paratroopa told him - he was going to Dry Dry Outpost via Mt. Rugged.

"Thanks." Black said, trying to remove his sinister snarl with little success. He then walked down to the Dry Dry Railway and got onto the train.

_45 minutes later..._

The train pulled into the station and stopped. Black stepped off the train and walked off the platform. He felt awful, being stuck on that humid train for 45 long minutes. He took off his black mask, put it into a hidden compartment, took out another (dry) black mask and tied it on. Now, he had to find Mario.

"Oh great. I've got to climb this mountain." he grumbled as he started to climb. Every 5 minutes, he had to take a rest. Every 15 minutes, he had to wipe a lot of sweat off his forehead. And... every 40 minutes, he had to empty out sweat that was sloshing in his shell.

The climb was a gruelling 3 and a half hours long. As soon as Black had reached the top, he started to make his way through Dry Dry Desert and hoped that he wouldn't collapse on the way...


	18. Chapter 17

Mario and Co. had finally reached Dry Dry Ruins, and they proceeded with caution.

"From what I've heard, this place has got booby traps." Parakarry said to the party as they entered.

"Bras?" Duncan asked, sniggering.

"No, stupid. Traps that stop people gettin' their mitts on treasures." Sam said, slapping Duncan across the face.

It seemed like the mail-carrying Paratroopa was right. Suddenly, as Mario stepped on a panel on the floor without realising it, the room began filling with sand. It stopped, however, just underneath another passsage higher up.

"Oh my God! That's-a little scary." Mario said. Sam then whispered that they should go through the passage.

The passage was long, dark and narrow. The party could barely see who was in front of them, and there were a few little accidents...

"Hey, you just-a stood on my foot!"

"Ugh, that was my shell you put your whoppin' great Thwomp-foot on!"

"Watch the... OUCH! ...wings."

"Stop thinking you're a Whomp! Stop trying to flatten me!"

When they reached the end of the dark passage, they were greeted by a Chain Chomp. It had huge teeth, a jet-black body and barked like a dog.

"Huh. His bark's worse than his bite." Sam said, hoping to lift the party's spirits.

"It's-a gonna be OK. Chain Chomps are-a no problem!" Mario said, taking out his Hammer and hammering out a few differences with the Chomp. It didn't seem too hurt.

"We need more hammers." Sam said. With that, he took out a HUGE sledgehammer and helped Mario to hammer the Chomp into submission. This time, they got rid of it.

"Thanks!" Mario said. But then...

"Arise, my beloved Chomp!" It was the bothersome boss of Dry Dry Ruins - it was Tutankoopa. He looked like a Koopa Troopa with no shell, and he wore a pharaoh's headdress and a long blue robe that covered his feet.

"What're you doing here?" Spiky Joe asked.

"On Bowser's orders, I have been asked to guard the Star Spirit Mamar from Mario and his minions!" Tutankoopa replied.

"I'm not a minion!" Goombario cried.

"Neither am I!" Kooper shouted.

"Silence yourselves! If you're with Mario, you're a minion. Get over it." Tutankoopa roared. The Chomp at Tutankoopa's side barked louder and more enthusiastically.

"Thanks. I can't get away from being a minion." Duncan groaned.

"Quiet!" Sam snapped, putting a hand over Duncan's mouth.

"Wait! I've-a got it! If we're-a only gonna beat that Chomp, he's-a gonna bring it back. I say we should-a get Tutankoopa." Mario said. And so, they did as the red-capped plumber said and focused all their attacks on Tutankoopa. Duncan threw his hammers with titanic force. Mario stomped on Tutankoopa's head. Spiky Joe rugby-tackled him faster than the best rugby player of the season. Goombario headbonked with a mighty blow. Kooper delivered more shell-shocks than ever. Parakarry smashed his shell into Tutankoopa whilst airborne. And Sam threw hammers and suggested possible attack patterns.

In 30 minutes, Tutankoopa was defeated, along with his Chain Chomp. A card came spiralling out of Tutankoopa's resting body. Spiky Joe snatched it up.

"Here's that Star Spirit!" Spiky Joe shouted triumphantly, and handed the card to Mario. Mamar broke free of her papery prison, and then granted Mario a new Power, Lullaby. This makes the bad guys fall asleep for 20 minutes, then Mamar went up to Star Haven. As soon as Mario and Co. had exited Dry Dry Ruins...

"Hey!" said a snarly voice. Duncan flinched.

"I'll 'ave him." he said, then got out a hammer. Black then stepped out of the shadows.

"I'm here to help. Myself and the other Koopa Bros. said that I should help Mario get those Star Spirits." Black explained. Duncan lowered his hammer.

"We're-a gonna need to tweak the party. I'm-a gonna drop two members. Any votes?" Mario asked.

"I vote Duncan Disorderly out." Sam said.

"I vote him out, too!" Spiky Joe said.

"I say drop Goombario." Kooper shouted.

"I've got my drop on Goombario, too!" Parakarry said.

"It's-a been decided then! Duncan, Goombario... I'm-a sorry to say this, but-a... you've-a been voted out. Sorry about-a that." Mario said to Goombario and Duncan. They then left and headed towards Goomba Village, which was about 40 miles away.

"So, am I in?" Black asked.

"Yes, you're-a with us now!" Mario said with a smile on his face. And so, the newly-tweaked party headed back to Toad Town on the Dry Dry Railway, despite the fact that it was the most low-class railway ever.


	19. Chapter 18

Well well well. It seemed like Bowser was having problems with his armies. He's gone and fried the Koopatrols for calling him a wimp, but it was really the Hammer Bros. who said it. Strangely, the Koopa king rounded on the Koopatrols because they ran to the back of the room.

"This is real bad. Those Hammer Bros. are gettin' away with this, and I don't like it one bit." a Koopatrol grumbled.

"Wait. Hold on. You said it. I heard you!" a Hammer Bro shouted in reply. Then both the Koopatrols and the Hammer Army started arguing over WHO had called Bowser a wimp (although we know who did, right?).

"Why do you lot have to bicker?" Bowser roared. Both armies quietened down.

"Well, um, you see... Master Bowser, it wasn't us who called you a wimp. The Hammer Bros. are guilty for that." a Koopatrol explained. The Hammer Army looked amongst themselves and started chatting.

"'Scuse me, Hammer Bros.! Can I ask you lot something?" Bowser said to the Hammer Army. They stopped chatting and looked at Bowser. One of them couldn't quite bring himself to do it, but he did in the end.

"Sure, go ahead, boss." one Hammer Bro said.

"Was it YOU who called me a wimp?" Bowser asked politely (a bit strange, especially since he's the evil Koopa king).

"Uh, no, boss." the Hammer Bro replied. One of the other Hammer Bros. flinched slightly. He was terrified.

"Master Bowser! It was me who said it. Sorry boss." the half-scared Hammer Bro managed to shout.

"Jimmy, GET HERE!" Bowser roared. The half-scared Hammer Bro, who was called Jimmy, made his way up to Bowser. Now, he was so terrified he started to whimper with fear.

"Y... yes, b-boss?" Jimmy asked gingerly.

"COME WITH ME!" Bowser yelled. He yelled it with such ferocity that Jimmy felt as though he'd been blown clean out of his shell. Jimmy tried to say something, but he was too torn with fear to say much more.

"Boss, it kinda... slipped out." Jimmy managed to mumble.

"Whatever. Now, to the dungeon!" Bowser shouted, a small plume of smoke billowing out of his nostrils. Jimmy got even more scared. He followed Bowser to the dungeon, but he didn't know what was in store for him, and he really didn't want to find out...


	20. Chapter 19

After 45 minutes on the Dry Dry Railway and another 5 minutes walk, Mario and Co. were back at Toad Town. They always came back here after rescuing a Star Spirit so they could unwind and discuss what they were to do next. Normally, it would just be a sit-down in the town centre (well, not quite sitting down).

"OK, that's two Star Spirits rescued. Where to now?" Spiky Joe asked. Mario gave him a funny look, as it was normally Sam Hammer who spoke first.

"Huh. I'm not sure. Maybe the Star Spirit will come to us and tell us, like Mamar did." Sam replied. A flash of light alerted the party. It looked like something had arrived (a secret arrival, which was why the planning wasn't in here - I couldn't get in to investigate). Quickly, Sam got to his feet and investigated. Voices could be overheard from nearby the Shroom Inn (which is a four-star inn that has B&B, buffet facilities and luggage storage).

"I heard he was here."

"Who?"

"That moustachio'd buffoon and those traitors."

"What? You mean Mario, Sam Hammer and Duncan Disorderly?"

"You mean Duncan Mitchell, idiot. Anyway, I heard he'd come here."

"From where?"

"That train guy near Mt. Rugged."

"Oh! We've come to stop him getting his mitts on that Star Spirit in Gusty Gulch, right?"

"Yes. Precisely."

Sam gasped softly. His eavesdropping had paid off - he had found out the location of the next Star Spirit! He tried to run back to the party, but...

"Oi! You, stop!" one voice shouted. It was the gruff voice of a Koopatrol.

"What?" Sam asked. The other voice that had been talking revealed itself. It was another Koopatrol, and he spoke in a very feminine voice (which was actually a jokey Japanese accent), despite the fact he was a male.

"You're a traitor to King Bowser! You ran away with Princess Peach and Duncan Disorderly *cough* Duncan Mitchell. Where is that buffoon with the pink helmet, anyway?"

"Like I'm gonna tell you? Bowser was gonna destroy the world, you idiot tinhead." Sam shouted, his voice having that harsh challenging tone.

"And then he was gonna build a new one!" the other Koopatrol yelled.

"Yeah, with more pain, grief and sufferin'. As if I wanted to be part of it. You disgust me, Spiky Simon." Sam said darkly.

"No! It's gonna be a world with loads of fun and, uh... Koopatrols!" Spiky Simon said excitedly.

"Quiet!" the other Koopatrol snapped. Spiky Simon sighed, and then turned to the other Koopatrol. They both decided they would get him, but first, they would have a nice chat.

"Look, Sam... you really want to be a part of this, don't you? I know your style. You're only helping Mario so you can kick his butt and take all the glory for yourself, right?" Spiky Simon asked in his jokey Japanese accent.

"No way. I'm helpin' Mario because he's better than scum like Bowser." Sam replied coolly. The other Koopatrol sneaked up behind Sam and tried to get him into a double armlock, but Sam was much too fast. He fastened his hand around the other Koopatrol's neck and hoisted him into the air.

"Hey! Put him down!" Spiky Simon cried.

"Put... me... down!" the other Koopatrol said, choking.

"Do you know who you're dealin' with here? You're dealin' with Sam Hammer, the leader of the Hammer Bros. battalion!" Sam said in a very acid tone.

"Your... army is... a *BEEP!*ing riffraff!" the other Koopatrol struggled to say. (Yeah, we know that swearing shows a lack of intelligence, but you can kinda see why that other Koopatrol swore).

"HEY! That's my elite battalion you're talkin' about, tinhead!" Sam roared. The heat of his rage seemed to course around the other Koopatrol's veins.

"Get... the *BEEP!*... off... me!" the other Koopatrol shouted. (I've managed to get an autocensor for my keyboard, so you won't see the actual swear word. Although that Koopatrol seems to be turning into Gordon Ramsay with all that swearing).

"You finished effin' and blindin' yet?" Sam said as the other Koopatrol stopped struggling and was still. Spiky Simon panicked. Sam then threw the other Koopatrol hard on the floor. He seemed like he had expired, but Sam wouldn't trust that. He made sure. He checked the other Koopatrol's pulse and breathing.

"Oh, he's a goner alright." Sam said to himself. Spiky Simon was even more scared. He took a step back. Sam whipped out a hammer and edged forward. Spiky Simon edged back. It was then that Sam let fly with the hammer, and it hit Spiky Simon in the face. He was catapulted onto his back, and screamed for someone to pull him up. Sam went over (but not to pull him up).

"Time to say goodbye, you incompetent fool." Sam said sinisterly, as he took out a giant sledgehammer and smashed it into Spiky Simon. The blow was fatal. Sam them put away the sledgehammer and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Great work there, Sam. You sure showed them." Black said in his usual sinister snarl.

"We still don't-a know where-a the next-a Star Spirit is!" Mario shouted.

"We do, actually. It's in Gusty Gulch somewhere." Sam said.

"Great! Let's go!" Kooper said excitedly.

"Wait one moment! Before we go," Parakarry said, "you should know that Gusty Gulch is quite hard to get to. We'll need to go through Forever Forest, which is incredibly difficult to get through without getting lost. If we get lost, you'll find yourself at the edge of the forest again."

"Any way you could tell us the right route?" Black asked darkly.

"It's easy to tell. Look for the route that looks slightly different from the rest." Parakarry replied.

"Let's-a go." Mario said. And so the party started heading towards Forever Forest, hoping that they wouldn't get lost...


	21. Chapter 20

Bowser, seven members of the Hammer Army and eight Koopatrols were gathered at a large stone table. they had heard the news of the two Koopatrols getting killed, and Bowser was fuming (He'd left Jimmy the Hammer Bro locked in the dungeon until further notice). You could see the plumes of smoke billowing from his nostrils.

"That's IT! That Mario HAS to go! And if you see Sam Hammer, don't bother capturing him. Kill him on sight - he's really making me fume." Bowser roared at the table. The Koopatrols cheered, but the Hammer Bros. weren't so keen.

"Dave here! That's our leader!" Dave shouted in protest.

"Your leader is a traitor, Dave." Bowser explained as calmly as he could.

"Spiky Tim here. Can't we just all go and kick their butts? If we sent every Koopatrol out, Mario and Sam Hammer are no-hopers." Spiky Tim said.

"Tyler here! Our leader took out two Koopatrols single-handed, so you're in trouble." Tyler said to Spiky Tim.

"Quiet, Tyler! Spiky Alison, tell him!" Spiky Tim shouted. The Koopatrol army doesn't just have male members - it also has female members, too.

"Spiky Alison here! Tyler, your leader may be able to take on two Koopatrols single-handed, but it doesn't mean that he could take on the entire Koopatrol army and win! One against 6000. You are joking." Spiky Alison explained.

"Chris here! You're trying to make our leader sound like he's got as much fight as a lettuce leaf, Alison!" Chris yelled (Chris is actually one of the Hammer Sisters (females of the Hammer Army). Her full name is Christina, but she's shortened it).

"That's Spiky Alison to you." Spiky Alison said darkly.

"Look, mate. Whatever your leader's good at - it won't wash! From the mouth of Spiky Harry!" Spiky Harry shouted.

"HEY! We're supposed to be discussing our next move! The next one's in Gusty Gulch - what traps should we set for Mario and his gang?" Bowser asked. Immediately, the others at the table quietened down.

"Sorry, Master Bowser. It just seemed that we needed a little talk about the situation." Spiky Alison explained.

"Now, I've had an idea. I say that we leave him a gift of some variety." Bowser said.

"Adam here! What's so good about leaving Mario a gift? That's too damn kind." Adam said.

"Now Adam, the gift won't be nice. It's gonna be something that'll make him shake so much, his 'tache will drop off!" Bowser said excitedly.

"A cannon that fires Bullet Bills?" Spiky Tim asked.

"A big box of Bob-ombs!" Adam said triumphantly.

"A never-ending hole!" Spiky Harry shouted.

"Can you put gift wrap on a hole?" Spiky Alison asked firmly.

"You could put the gift wrap around the hole." Chris answered.

"NO, YOU BLITHERING IDIOTS!" Bowser roared, the smoke coming out of his nostrils getting fiercer.

"Freddy here! Then what?" Freddy asked.

"It will be... a quick-fire way to my domain! But it will be (to them) a quick-fire way to the Star Spirit!" Bowser said triumphantly. The Koopatrols and members of the Hammer Army cheered wildly.

"Get to it!" Bowser yelled, and then they all got to work.


	22. Chapter 21

Mario, Kooper, Sam Hammer, Spiky Joe, Parakarry and Black were heading to Gusty Gulch to get hold of the third Star Spirit. But... they had to make it through Forever Forest and not get lost. Parakarry had said that the right route looked slightly different. Perhaps it was too slight, as the party had been circling the edge of the forest for half an hour now.

"Come on! It's this way!" Parakarry shouted to the party.

"That looks like ditto as that route!" Sam replied, pointing to another path.

"Trust me, please." Parakarry protested. The party followed his lead... and found themselves further into the forest.

"OK, Parakarry. You're-a gonna lead us through the forest." Mario said. Parakarry said that he would, and then he flew around the area, looking for the right exit. A high-pitched laugh made him jump (can't tell how high - I forgot my ruler whilst investigating undercover). Then, he came to a conclusion. That laugh only happened near this exit. Quickly, he called to the party to come through the exit he had pointed out. Sure enough, they were deeper into the forest.

And so that's how it went. Parakarry would fly round the forest and look at each route. When he found the route that was slightly different, he would call for the other party members to go through the exit he had pointed out.

Following Parakarry's method, the party reached the heart of the forest in a matter of minutes.

"I thought this was gonna lead us to the gulch. We're not there yet. I think that Paratroopa is tryin' to trick me." Sam grumbled.

"I'm not, though. Listen, we need to go into Boo's Mansion and ask the Boo princess to let us pass into Gusty Gulch. It's not that simple. Even I can't get through without permission - and I'm on mail duty when going through here!" Parakarry replied.

"I don't know if I can do this - I mean, I don't like ghosts. One scared me, and I can't really go." Spiky Joe said, quaking with fear.

"Come on, you big girl's blouse." Black snapped.

"I'm not too keen on ghosts - but if Parakarry says it's the only way into Gusty Gulch, I'm going in." Kooper said to Spiky Joe.

"Come on now! We've-a gotta get that-a Star Spirit! And the only way we're-a gonna do that is to go in-a the mansion." Mario said. And with that, the party set foot into Boo's Mansion, hoping that they could gain entry into Gusty Gulch...


	23. Chapter 22

As we probably all know, Lord Bowser comes up with an idea to get rid of Mario... but it never works. He was confident that this would work. He and some of his army members were now at Gusty Gulch, doing a quick checklist of what to do.

"Four of you will dress up as travellers, and then you will pretend to lead Mario and his gang to the Star Spirit. But what you're really doing is leading them to this transporter and bringing them to ME." Bowser explained to eight Koopatrols and three members of the Hammer Army.

"What will the others do?" a Hammer Bro asked.

"The rest of you will be helping to pitch a few tents. This will make Mario think that they are travellers that are camping here." Bowser said, confident in his plan.

"Campers. Don't like 'em. They plonk their tents wherever they feel." a Koopatrol grumbled.

"Don't be such a sourpuss." Spiky Alison said firmly (She had decided to join in this plan).

"Sorry, Alison." the Koopatrol said apologetically.

"_Spiky_ Alison." Spiky Alison corrected.

As soon as four members were elected to be the travellers and the tents were pitched, Bowser went back to his castle to wait for the arrival of Mario and his party. The other Koopatrols and Hammer Bros. had to wait in Gusty Gulch for Mario's arrival.


	24. Chapter 23

Boo's Mansion is one of those typical spooky mansions - with lots of cobwebs, fancy carpets and suits of armour. Mario and Co. knew that this was the only way that they were going to get to Gusty Gulch - by coming in here and asking the Boo princess for entry. They came up to one of the Boos who lived in the mansion.

"Hey. I'm-a looking for the Boo princess. Where-a is she?" Mario asked the Boo.

"Third floor, mate." the Boo replied. With that, the party went up to the third floor and heard a voice.

"You cannot see the Boo princess until you complete the Trials of Boo's Mansion." the voice cried. Parakarry found this strange. Normally he didn't have to do any trials to get into Gusty Gulch.

"Huh. What are they?" Sam asked.

"There are three. The first one is the Hidden Panel - you have to find the secret panel that contains a cosmetic set belonging to the Boo princess. All I know is that it's on the ground floor. The second one is the Shop Horror. Find the item that is scaring the shopkeeper Boo on the basement floor. Finally, there is the Missing Portrait. A Boo portrait is missing from its frame on the second floor. Find it and place it back inside."

"It's all finding things! I don't like that sort of stuff!" Kooper wailed.

"You have to. Or else you won't be able to see the Boo princess!" And with that, the party decided to split up and tackle all three trials in one go.

Sam explained the ordeal. "OK. I was thinkin'... that because there's 3 trials, we should split up to do them all. Right. Kooper and Mario, you're gonna do the Hidden Panel trial. Spiky Joe, you and Parakarry will tackle the Hidden Portrait trial. Black, you and me are gonna do the Shop Horror trial. Let's do this."

So, each pair went to do their specified trial. Mario and Kooper were busy trying to find a hidden panel containing a cosmetics set. After doing a strategic search which involved flipping floorboards, they found it (they'd flipped a total of 18 floorboards to try and find it).

Parakarry and Spiky Joe had to find a missing portrait and put it back into its frame. They'd scoured the whole mansion and were on the verge of giving up, when...

"I found it!" Parakarry found the portrait. It was lying on the floor underneath its frame!

Meanwhile, Sam Hammer and Black had to find the item that was scaring the Boo shopkeeper. They asked him what it looked like, and it turned out to be a small pile of random objects that made it look like their nemesis, Tubba Blubba (who is a creature that goes round eating ghosts). In saying that, they moved it so that it looked like a pile of random objects.

After they had completed all of the trials, the mysterious voice on the third floor asked them to come in. Sure enough, the Boo princess was there.

"I was that voice. I wasn't going to give up that Star Spirit to any of Bowser's minions." the princess said.

"Good idea. He plans to destroy the world, and then make a new one that's worse." Sam said in a vaguely proud voice.

"Anyway, I am Lady Bow, the princess of the Boos!" Lady Bow announced. Mario explained the situation - about Bowser, the seven Star Spirits and the lack of time.

"Your Star Spirit is with me. It escaped from Gusty Gulch a while ago, but I can't just give it to you. You have to help me." Lady Bow said, slightly sourly.

"Yeah, sure! What should we do?" Kooper asked.

"Defeat the Invincible Tubba Blubba! He's been eating us Boos since Bowser hid a Star Spirit there." Lady Bow replied. The party were unsure. How can you defeat someone who's invincible?

"Huh. That whole 'invincible' thing has got about as much sense as a pair of explodin' underpants. He's gotta have some sort of weakness." Sam said coolly. Lady Bow explained that there is a weakness that he closely guards, but she didn't know what it was. So now it was up to the party to find out Tubba Blubba's weakness - and fast.

"Look, I'm sick of my people being eaten by this guy. I'm going to help you." Lady Bow said, and then she went on to explain her unique abilities - she could make the whole party invisible, so that the bad guys can't get them.

"Well, Tubba Blubba isn't going to be defeated if we just stand around! Let's go!" Lady Bow ordered, and she zoomed out of the mansion.

"She'd better watch how she speaks to me. After all, I'm a natural leader." Sam grumbled. The party ran outside the mansion and found that Lady Bow was waiting, but she was angry.

"What's with the hold-up? Do you guys like seeing ghosts eaten or something?" she shouted at the rest of the party.

Sam replied, "No. It's just that I was tellin' them a few, uh... tactics. Yeah."

"Look here. I'm a princess, so that means I'm in charge!"

"Well, really, I'm-a the one in charge!" Mario shouted over the bickering twosome. Lady Bow softened slightly.

"After all, this is Mario's mission, so he's in charge. You, with the black mop! Don't act like you're the boss!" Lady Bow yelled. Sam looked at her, and then scrubbed his rebelliously messy jet-black hair with one hand.

"Y'know, I've got a name. And don't go thinkin' that you're Ms. I'm So Important That Everyone Should Listen To Me, you got that?" Sam retorted.

"Yeah, well... what is your name?"

"My name is Sam Hammer. I'm the leader of the Hammer Army."

"That's one of Bowser's armies!"

"I know. I left because Bowser is a big lumberin' idiot. I hope my lads do the same thing." (OK, so not all the members of the Hammer Army are males, but the girls don't mind being referred to in this way because they're tomboyish)

"Stop arguing!" Kooper wailed. Lady Bow and Sam stopped their bicker and scowled.

"You're right... what's your name?" Lady Bow said after a minute of silence.

"My name's Kooper. I'll tell you who everyone else is. That guy over there is Spiky Joe, the guy with the wings is Parakarry and that one with the mask on is Black. You already know who Sam is, right?" Kooper replied.

"Yes." Their conversation was cut short on the sound of a jokey Italian accent.

"OK. Have-a we finshed now? Let's-a go!" Mario said, and with that, the party - along with their new member, Lady Bow - set out into Gusty Gulch.


	25. Chapter 24

It had been a gruelling 5 hour wait for Jimmy the Hammer Bro. He'd been locked in the dungeon whilst Bowser attended to other things. He knew his time was up.

"Jimmy, it's time. Come with me." a Koopatrol snarled from outside the door. Jimmy walked up to the door and opened it. The Koopatrol then grabbed him and led him into the torture chamber.

"Ah, welcome to the Carnival of Doom! I'm your host and doom expert, Lord Bowser!" Bowser said proudly as the Koopatrol shoved Jimmy into the room and slammed the door.

"Thanks for the welcome, Lord Bowser." Jimmy said sarcastically (but hiding every trace of sarcasm in his voice).

"For the start of the carnival, we'll have... WHIPLASH!" Bowser shouted, motioning to a Koopatrol to come and tie Jimmy to a spindly chair. With that, Bowser picked up a knout (which is a thick whip that can snap a plank of wood with a single blow) and moved closer to Jimmy. He whimpered as Bowser raised the whip above his head and then...

Jimmy screamed.

The knout contacted Jimmy with inhuman force, and made him jerk violently in the chair, almost knocking him out.

"Please, Bowser... don't do this... I'm innocent!" Jimmy whimpered.

"That's LORD Bowser to you. And you're guilty of calling me a wimp." Bowser roared in reply. Some of the Koopatrols who were standing guard started to cheer Bowser on and booed Jimmy.

"What carnival is a carnival without a middle bit? Here it is... the PUNCH-BAG!" Bowser announced. He rounded on Jimmy again. Raising his fist, he brought it back and then...

Jimmy screamed.

Bowser's fist contacted with Jimmy's face, sending his head to the left. He was bleeding now, but it wasn't too severe at the moment. Bowser punched again, this time with a pile-driver punch. This next blow almost knocked the wind out of Jimmy and his head lolled to the right, just in time to receive another punch from Bowser. This one was the worst. It knocked Jimmy out, but only for a second.

"Please, Lord Bowser! Stop! I didn't mean to say it!" Jimmy wailed. Whilst Bowser was getting ready to punch Jimmy again, two Koopatrols were chatting.

"Man, Jimmy only said it by accident. We gotta do something, Spiky Jake." the first Koopatrol said.

"But, Spiky Darren... Jimmy mightn't make it, with the way Bowser's at him. Should we try getting a message to Dark Shell?" Spiky Jake said. (Note: as Sam Hammer is actually a traitor to Bowser, any Koopatrols or members of the Hammer Army who want to talk about him have to codename him 'Dark Shell').

"That's risky, man. You know what Bowser's like for letting us send messages." Spiky Darren grumbled.

"Oh yeah... we're gonna have to send it in secret. Tonight. Meet me in the Messaging Centre at 10 o'clock tonight." Spiky Jake said.

Meanwhile...

"Quit moaning!" Bowser roared as Jimmy whimpered yet again for him to stop. Then...

"Lord Bowser!" It was the voice of a Koopatrol.

"What is it? You're crashing the carnival." Bowser grunted.

"It's Sam Hammer... we've captured him. He was leaving Boo's Mansion and heading up to Gusty Gulch." the Koopatrol announced (this was a secret mission between a select few Koopatrols - I couldn't investigate much further).

"Send him here. I'll deal with him." Bowser roared, and then he resumed torturing Jimmy.


	26. Chapter 25

_For one chapter - we move away from the antics of Mario and the rest of the party. Now, what was in store for Sam Hammer as he was led up into Bowser's Castle?_

A group of three Koopatrols were marching up the twisted path to Bowser's Castle, with the traitorous Sam Hammer in tow. Their secret snatch mission had been a success.

"We should do that more often." one of the Koopatrols said.

"What, act like idiots?" Sam replied with a rather rough edge to his voice. The Koopatrols weren't too happy to hear that.

"NO!" another Koopatrol roared. Sam wasn't scared. He didn't even flinch. He chuckled to himself as the Koopatrols dragged him up to the castle. As soon as all four were inside, Bowser came marching up to them, sniggering.

"Great work, chaps! Now, you three can have an extra tea break. Sam, you're coming with me." Bowser grunted. The Koopatrols ran off to their dormitory in the castle and decided to have their tea break. Sam, on the other hand, stayed where he was. He didn't advance towards Bowser, nor did he run out the large door behind him. Instead, he looked at Bowser with a sinister glint in his eye.

"I don't think so. Oh no. I've given up being a baddie, and that's final. If you're thinkin' of tryin' to make me return to your side, there's no chance of that happenin'!" Sam said darkly.

"Oh, I don't want to make you come back to me..." Bowser said, with a jokey high-pitched voice, and then his tone changed drastically.

"Because you're going to die." Bowser finished. Sam looked at the Koopa king again, this time his glare was even more piercing than before.

"I'd rather die than go back with scum like you!" Sam roared, his voice taking on an inhuman rage. That didn't seem to scare Bowser in any way, it just made him even more furious.

"FINE! You asked for it, you traitor." the Koopa king yelled, and then no less than TWELVE Koopatrols came out from all directions. Sam had already figured out that he wouldn't be able to take them all on at once, so he came up with a tactic. He would use evasive moves, then as soon as a single Koopatrol came up, he would dispatch 'em.

But it didn't work.

One Koopatrol immediately knocked Sam to the floor, then two others jumped onto his stomach (which hurt). Just as he was about to get up, a fourth Koopatrol came up and smacked him in the face. Bowser was watching the whole spectacle, and he was loving every minute.

"Take him, Koopatrols! Oggy oggy oggy... OI OI OI!" Bowser yelled with delight as the Koopatrols beat Sam senseless. But then...

"Heee-YAAAAAH!" Sam yelled, shoving five Koopatrols off him with superhuman strength (we'll forget the fact he's not human). He then turned on the remaining seven, charging at them with all the fury of Satan with an ice cube stuck to him. They cowered as Sam rugby-tackled them to the floor, knocking the wind out of them.

"ENOUGH!" Bowser roared. The Koopatrols stopped immediately, but Sam kept on pummelling one of them.

"Spiky Blake, I said STOP!" Bowser shouted at the Koopatrol who was still getting beaten up.

"It's not my fault, Lord Bowser. Sam is still pummelling me!" Spiky Blake whimpered. Bowser softened slightly.

"All right. Hang on, Spiky Blake." With that, Bowser grabbed Sam from behind and slammed him to the floor. There was a violent struggle as Sam tried vainly to wriggle free from Bowser's iron grip.

"Not so tough now, are ya?" Spiky Blake taunted. But Sam is not one who'll take an insult. Oh no. He kicked at Spiky Blake, trying to get him. He couldn't quite manage it, so using the roundness of his shell to its fullest advantage, he rocked back and forth, shaking Bowser's grip looser as he did so. Eventually, Sam could grab Bowser and throw him at Spiky Blake, knocking them both to the floor.

"Huh. That was easy." Sam said. But then...

"Nyeah heh heh heh! Too easy!" Kammy Koopa laughed as she cast a spell on Sam. It trapped him on the floor, unable to move.

"Quickly, Your Awfulness! I've got him!" Kammy shouted to Bowser, trying to encourage him to get up. The Koopa king did so, and he then moved forward... and Kammy released her spell. Bowser fell on top of Sam, pinning him to the floor. It's a nice thing, being trapped under half a ton of smelly Koopa king, isn't it?

"Great. I'm now squished." Sam grumbled as he struggled to wriggle out from under Bowser. It was then that the Koopa king got up, grabbed Sam quickly and dragged him off to the very same room he'd left Jimmy the Hammer Bro in not one chapter ago. Bowser then locked Sam in the room and went back to the torture chamber. There, he found that Jimmy had gone!

"Where's Jimmy?" Bowser roared at two Koopatrols that were standing guard, Spiky Darren and Spiky Jake.

"I don't know, Master Bowser. We were chatting." Spiky Jake said sadly.

"Well if you two weren't so busy gassing, you might pay attention next time!" Bowser yelled, boiling with rage. Spiky Jake sank back, too scared to speak.

"It won't happen again." Spiky Darren whimpered. He had only just managed to muster enough confidence to face Bowser when he was in that state.

"OK. But if it does, you're for the chop." Bowser said with a sinister grunt. And then he left, calling for Jimmy to come back. After Bowser had left, Spiky Jake turned to Spiky Darren and said,

"Do you ever get the feeling that Bowser doesn't care about his armies?" Spiky Darren giggled loudly after Spiky Jake had finished speaking.

"Yeah. Maybe that's why Sam left. But it's a shame that he did, because he's the only one who can stand up to Bowser." said Spiky Jake sadly, and then he and Spiky Darren resumed their guarding duties.


	27. Chapter 26

Meanwhile, in Gusty Gulch, Mario and Co. had started on their trek through the gulch to find the Invincible Tubba Blubba. No-one had noticed that one member of the party was missing… at least not yet, anyway.

"Hmm. Things seem a little quiet, you know." Lady Bow said sadly, breaking the silence that had shrouded the party for the past five minutes. That was when Mario told the party to stop.

"So, we should-a talk about-a what we're-a gonna do when we find-a Tubba Blubba, yeah? Wait… someone seems-a to be missing." Mario said to the party when they had stopped by a large rock.

"Oh no. No, it's not… Not possible… Sam's missing." Kooper stammered. He couldn't believe that Sam Hammer (the leader of the Hammer Army who's just been kidnapped) had been swiped from under the party's noses so fast… and so sneakily. None of the others could believe it, either.

"How could we not have noticed? Oh, how stupid!" Parakarry complained, looking at Spiky Joe very sternly. The Koopatrol backed off slightly. Black gave Spiky Joe a funny look, then he grunted sinisterly and turned his head the other way.

"Well I didn't let him get kidnapped, did I, winghead?" Spiky Joe snapped.

"Quiet, you big lumbering, armour-plated idiot! He was stood right next to you when I last saw him!" Parakarry retorted.

"Shut up, you blithering idiots!" Lady Bow shouted at Parakarry and Spiky Joe. They both calmed down. She then went on that just because Sam was missing didn't mean that they should argue. Instead, the remaining party members should work together and find a way to get him back.

Just then, a group of travelling Koopas passed by. Mario halted them and asked them where they were going. They said that they were seeking 'a portly Italian plumber and his party'. That was Mario and Co. alright.

"Yes. We were coming to tell you that we have found your primary goal." the leading Koopa said.

"That's-a great! You're-a helping us save some time." Mario replied cheerfully. But Spiky Joe seemed to notice some strange vibe. Quickly he pulled Mario behind the large rock and said to him,

"I've seen some of those guys before. They're members of Bowser's armies. I think they're trying to lead us all to our doom." To which Mario replied,

"But if they're-a gonna take us to Bowser's Castle, we might-a be able to find out where Sam is being held. No doubt Bowser is-a behind the kidnapping." Spiky Joe explained that it would be too risky, as they wouldn't just lead them to the castle - they would drag them inside and leave their fate in Bowser's evil, scheming hands.

"Oh, that's-a true. Let's-a explain something to them." Mario suggested, and so they returned to the travelling Koopas.

"Thanks, but-a no thanks. We've-a already figured out how to achieve our primary goal." Mario said to the travellers. They didn't want to take no for an answer.

"We also know where the missing member of your group is. Come with us." one of the other travellers said. Spiky Joe nudged Mario and whispered that they were extorting him. Mario said to the travellers that he had already found his primary goal and an idea as to where Sam was, but they didn't go on their way. Instead, they dragged the party members to a teleporter nearby a ring of trees.

"Come through here. This will take you to your primary goal." said the leading traveller. Mario was about to enter the teleporter when…

"No, Mario! It's a trap! I can feel it." Lady Bow said, sounding like she was almost in tears. Using her quick-thinking, the Boo princess made the entire party invisible, and told them to run up the path towards Tubba Blubba's castle. So, with that, the party ran along the path. All you could see was the cloud of dust they kicked up as they ran. The travelling Koopas didn't bother following.


	28. Chapter 27

In a tiny room in Bowser's Castle, Sam Hammer was sat on the floor, wondering what to do. He'd been whisked away from Mario and Co. without him knowing it, and being trapped in this room only emphasised the fact that he was lonely.

"Bowser, you swine! Why have you done this to me? You'll be payin' the price - with your puny life!" Sam shouted, filled with purest malice. It's not the first time, though. Twelve people have been locked in here before Sam, and they had been filled with purest malice during their stay in here, so the Koopatrols commonly referred to this room as the 'Rage Room'.

"Ah, shut up in there." an old Goomba in the neighbouring room yelled. Then, a rhythmic clanging rang through the corridors. It was a group of four Koopatrols marching up to the Rage Room.

"Mr. Sam Hammer, your thrill ride is here!" one of the Koopatrols taunted.

"Don't push your luck, tinhead." Sam replied darkly. There was a dull click as the lock on the door of the Rage Room was released, and one Koopatrol stormed in and grabbed Sam by the scruff of the neck. Being of a quick-thinking nature, Sam grabbed the Koopatrol's arm and slung him to the ground. The three other Koopatrols didn't just stand there.

Oh no.

They barged in and knocked Sam to the floor. The Koopatrol who had been slammed to the floor just seconds ago stood up, marched over to Sam and got him into a double armlock. And with that, the intrepid, daring, brash, brutal, headstrong and dominant leader of the Hammer Army began to struggle violently against the Koopatrol's grasp. Eventually the Koopatrol gained the upper hand and Sam tried in vain to wriggle free from his grip.

"Get off me, you stupid little TINHEAD!" Sam shouted furiously. This startled the Koopatrol who had hold of him, and he let go of Sam and jumped back. What he didn't know was that he had jumped back through a window! Sam laughed with triumph as the Koopatrol plummeted to his doom. However… the other three Koopatrols were closing in fast. Sam had no time to think! He had no choice but to jump through the window the other Koopatrol had fallen through. So, bracing himself for a very long drop, Sam hurled himself out of the window, tucking himself into his shell as he did so. Soon, he hit the ground. He then popped out of his shell and said to himself,

"I've gotta catch up with Mario and the gang. I know he's headin' for Tubba Blubba's castle, so I'll go there and wait for him." With no delay, Sam began to run towards Tubba Blubba's castle, praying that Mario and Co. were still safe from Bowser's minions…


	29. Chapter 28

Mario and Co. had finally reached Tubba Blubba's castle, and they were just about to go inside when...

"We've got to be careful. If we're not, we'll surely be killed." Lady Bow said before the party went in.

Tubba Blubba's castle was enormous. It was three stories high, and if you shouted in the main room, you could hear an echo. The party were amazed, but they couldn't just stand around and let Tubba Blubba find them. They had to bring the fight to Tubba Blubba.

"Let's-a go!" Mario shouted to the party. They had only climbed the first set of stairs when...

"I'll marmalise you, you little scoundrel!" said a rather gruff voice.

"You'll be wantin' a whuppin', you!" shouted a very familiar voice. Mario recognised it instantly. It was Sam Hammer!

"He's gone in there and taken on Tubba Blubba _alone_?" Black snarled. He was impressed and shocked at the same time. Lady Bow suggested that they should go in and help, when...

"Agh! You little pest!" Sam yelled in pain. Tubba Blubba laughed hysterically, and rounded on Sam again. But he was too slow, and so Sam got up and threw a hammer at Tubba Blubba's head. It damaged him (or that's how Sam saw it, anyway).

"You're not invincible at all! You can be hurt, so that means you're not the Invincible Tubba Blubba any more. You're just plain old Tubba Blubba." Sam said with a sinister edge to his voice. But Tubba Blubba didn't take too kindly. He swung another punch at Sam, knocking the wind out of him.

"Don't push your luck, guy. You help Bowser, so I have to kill you." Tubba Blubba said. Sam was horrified! After all, he left Bowser ages ago.

"Look, Tubba Blubba. I don't help Bowser no more. I left because he's a big lumberin' idiot, and because he was tryin' to destroy the world... and make a worse one in its place." Sam replied. Tubba Blubba immediately stopped beating up Sam and looked at him with tears in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I don't like how Bowser has made me invincible. I want to be normal again. Here, take this key and unlock the chest on the third floor." Tubba Blubba said to Sam, handing him a small key. Immediately afterwards, Mario and Co. barged through the door, past Tubba Blubba and tailed Sam. When they all got to the third floor, Sam looked behind him.

"Hey guys. Sorry I wasn't around before, it was just that Bowser's minions had got me, and I don't know how they did it. So, I thought, after escapin', that I'd save you a job and defeat Tubba Blubba. I didn't realise that he wasn't really a bad guy until then." he said to the party.

"That's-a little strange. It doesn't make-a much sense. But, at least-a we don't have mass fighting on our hands." Mario replied.

"Good job, huh. That guy's a mad fighter. He knows how to hurt." Sam said, still clutching at his stomach from a blow he had received during his little scrap with Tubba Blubba.

"Yeah. But you're still breathing, so you should be happy." Black snarled. Sam smiled, and then he went over to a locked chest. Taking the key into his hand, he pushed it into the lock, turned it anticlockwise and opened the chest. He reached inside... and pulled out a large living heart.

"Whoa! What... IS that?" Kooper exclaimed. Lady Bow replied that it was Tubba Blubba's heart. It had been taken out of his body so that he would become invincible.

"That's not right, though. Surely taking someone's heart out of their body would kill them!" Black sneered, looking fairly confused. The party stood there, lost in thought for a few seconds, when they heard a shout.

"Hey! Have you opened that chest yet? Bring the contents down to me!" It was Tubba Blubba. Quickly, Sam ran down to the first floor, carrying the heart. The rest of the party soon followed. As soon as he got down there, Sam gave the heart to Tubba Blubba, who then put it back into his body and coughed up all of the ghosts he had eaten. He began to sob.

"I don't like being so big. I'm a nice guy trapped in this huge ugly body. I didn't like being invincible, because I felt wrong. I've never fitted in anyway." Tubba Blubba wailed. Sam comforted him, and said that he'd righted all of his wrongs. Tubba Blubba thanked him, and then he left the castle, closely followed by the rest of the party.

"Great work there, Sam. I didn't think that Tubba Blubba was a good guy. You've earned this. Take it." Lady Bow said, and then she floated over to Sam and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He blushed slightly.

"Thanks. But the important thing, the Star Spirit. Where is it?" Sam said. Lady Bow pulled a card out that was tucked away beneath one of her ribbons. She handed it to Mario, where the card swirled above his hands and turned into the Star Spirit Skolar.

"Thank you for rescuing me. Allow me to grant you a Power." Skolar said, and then he gave Mario his Power, Star Storm. This is an attack that harms all enemies within a 2-mile radius. He then returned to Star Haven.

"Right, we're done here! Let's go back to Toad Town." Lady Bow said, and then the party headed back to Toad Town so that they could track down the next Star Spirit...


	30. Chapter 29

"WHAAAAAT?" Bowser roared at three Koopatrols. He was not too happy. After all, he found out that his plan didn't work AND a traitor had escaped.

"Uh, Master Bowser... we couldn't... Spiky Joe was..." one Koopatrol stammered. Bowser was even more furious. Even Spiky Joe had turned traitor!

"So Spiky Joe foiled my plan? I have many more tricks under my shell. This is only the beginning." Bowser said sinisterly. The Koopatrols jeered.

"So, we should make another trap for Mario and his gang. Where's the next Star Spirit hidden? If we find that out, we've got him for sure." another Koopatrol said, his voice taking on an exciteable tone. Bowser wasn't too sure.

"No. We will wait until he has all of the Star Spirits. Then, I'll have enough time to construct a master plan. Mario will not make it to this castle. I'll set up the traps now." the Koopa king said, still angered.

"For the moment, may I have permission to send out raiding parties?" the Koopatrol leader asked.

"Spiky Dagbert, what do you want that for? Two Koopatrols already lost their lives thanks to your little raiding party idea." the first Koopatrol said.

"Look... it'll slow them down. We've gotta make sure that Master Bowser can complete the master plan before Mario's arrival." Spiky Dagbert explained. Bowser then gave Spiky Dagbert permission to send out his raiding parties, but they had to be fairly large (around seven).

"It'll be done." Spiky Dagbert promised. Then, Bowser dispersed the Koopatrols and started to devise ideas for his master plan.


	31. Chapter 30

After a trek back from Gusty Gulch and through Forever Forest, Mario and Co. finally made it back to Toad Town.

"OK, three Star Spirits down, four to go. Where's the next one gonna be?" Sam said to the party as soon as they arrived in their favourite meeting spot. Then... there was a noise that sounded like a baby crying.

"I'll check it out." Black snarled, and then he sprang to his feet and went to where the noise had come from. It had come from a cardboard box, which was closed. Black opened it, reached inside... and pulled out a small creature with a red hooded robe and a white mask on. It was holding a large bag.

"That's the thief! He stole the letters!" the postmaster Paratroopa shouted from some distance away. He was pointing, but it seemed to be at Black, and not the creature he was holding.

Two Koopas came up behind Black and grabbed him. As he struggled free, the little red-clothed creature laughed and ran off.

"Where-a did that-a creature come from?" Mario asked, slightly shocked. The two Koopas who had hold of Black then dragged him to the post office. Sam, who is very quick to notice anything dodgy, instantly picked it up. It was the creature who had stolen the bag of letters and not Black. He told Mario, who then said that they should try to explain the situation.

"Let's-a go!" Mario said to Sam, and then the twosome stormed into the post office, where Black was tied to a chair. But they both got kicked out by the two Koopas.


	32. Chapter 31

Meanwhile, in the post office, Black was tied to a chair, waiting to be questioned about the missing mailbag and how he got hold of it.

"Now, what was the meaning of that? You don't go round stealing bags full of letters!" the postmaster Paratroopa shouted. Black smirked. He'd done this before.

"Hey, you know, I didn't nick your letters. In fact, if those guys hadn't got me, the guy who REALLY got the letters wouldn't have escaped!" Black snapped, his voice having a challenging edge to it.

"Nonsense! You had hold of the bag when the Shy Guy got away, you idiot." the postmaster yelled. Black smiled again to himself. This time there would be no more Mr. Nice Guy. He was going to escape this. And, he'd also found out that it was a Shy Guy who was behind the real thieving of the bag of letters.

"You don't go calling me an idiot! YOU'RE the idiot!" Black roared, his voice filled with the same inhuman fury that scared Lord Bowser out of his shell. That did it. The postmaster was terrified! He untied Black from the chair and shivered.

"I'm pretty warm in here." Black snarled, scaring the postmaster even more.

"Wh-who actually s-stole th-the b-bag of l-letters?" the postmaster stammered.

"It was that Shy Guy. The one that got away. ALL THANKS TO THEM!" Black snapped, pointing at the two Koopas. The postmaster got even more scared.

"Weak-minded twit." Black snarled to himself, and then he walked out of the post office to rejoin Mario and Co..


	33. Chapter 32

Black had rejoined the party, and he told them about the incident with the Shy Guy. It seemed like Parakarry was the first to help out.

"I know about the Shy Guys. They reside in Shy Guy's Toy Box." the mail-carrying Paratroopa explained to the party. It was quite a phenomenon. After all, when an issue regarding any locations in the Mushroom Kingdom arises, Parakarry seems to know about it. Sam Hammer spoke next.

"Huh. Also, I noticed that Shy Guy had a card, lookin' like it had a Star Spirit trapped in it." The other party members gasped. That means that the next Star Spirit has been whisked away to Shy Guy's Toy Box!

"Well, we should get going. After all, if we don't... Bowser could get us all." Kooper said. Lady Bow agreed with him, and then asked Mario to give the word.

"Let's-a go!" Mario shouted, and so the party went to Shy Guy's Toy Box, after Parakarry had told them where it was.


	34. Chapter 33

Mario and Co had just climbed into the Toy Box, and they seemed to have been shrunk down, as the toys inside were MASSIVE. A basic tower of stacking blocks dwarfed all the members of the party by comparison, even Sam Hammer, who was the tallest.

"Come on. We've-a gotta find-a that Star Spirit." Mario said to the party, and so they walked through forests of stacking blocks, irregular walls of teddy bears and lines of clockwork soldiers. A very faint scream sounded from a pile of teddy bears, so the party went to investigate. The party put their backs into shifting the teddy bears, and out came a little ball of electricity.

"Hm hm hee hee hee! Thank you for helping me out there. I'd been trapped there for an hour." it said. Black stepped in front of it.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" he snarled. The little ball of electricity looked at him with beady eyes and replied,

"I am Watt, the daughter of Lil' Sparky. I was trapped in here by those horrid Shy Guys. Listen, I know why things are a little odd outside the Toy Box." Mario was very interested, so he asked Watt to tell the party. She replied,

"OK, so Bowser gave a card-thingy to a Shy Guy, and he's taken it to General Guy for safe keeping. I was going to see what that card was, but the Shy Guy noticed me, and so he emptied a whole pile of teddy bears on me! I kept screaming for help, but no-one came for an hour." Sam added that he had seen what that card was, but he wasn't going to tell Watt, in case she was working for Bowser. Watt replied that she hated Bowser more than that Shy Guy who dropped the teddy bears on her.

"I'm-a thinking of-a letting her join-a the party. What-a do you-a say?" Mario asked the party. Kooper, Sam, Spiky Joe, Parakarry, Black and Lady Bow all said yes, so now Watt was with Mario and Co..

"Watt, since you're with us now, I'll tell you what I'm thinkin' that card is. It's what we're lookin' for - one of the Star Spirits." Sam said to Watt.

"Ahh, they come for my precious treasure." said a nearby voice. It sounded posh and upper-class. Watt got a bit nervous, and then she told the rest of the party that that was the voice of General Guy. Did that mean the party were close to retrieving another Star Spirit?

Not on your nellie.

General Guy sounded so close, but so far. They couldn't get to General Guy through a nearby door they saw, as it was just a huge sticker.

"That's gotta be one of the cheapest tactics I have ever seen." Sam muttered to himself as he ran his hand over the sticker. Lady Bow thought for a second, and then she said,

"I wonder if I could use my invisibility to make us all able to pass through that wall?" Kooper said it was worth a try, and so Lady Bow made the whole party invisible, and they tried to pass through the wall... but they couldn't.

"Good try anyway, Lady Bow." Spiky Joe said reassuringly. Lady Bow smiled.

"OK, let's-a go this way." Mario shouted to the party, pointing down an irregularly-shaped corridor made out of stacking blocks and teddy bears.


	35. Chapter 34

Lord Bowser was sat on a red velvet throne, deep in thought. He wanted to think of a master plan that would surely blow Mario clean out of the picture.

"That's it. I need to observe Mario very carefully. If I find out how he attacks, I should be able to counter that." Bowser said to himself, and then he summoned Spiky Dagbert to his room.

"You called, sir?" Spiky Dagbert asked. Bowser looked at him, his eyes filled with glee.

"I should use the 'traitor' thing to my advantage. Spiky Dagbert, my loyal Koopatrol, I want you to pretend you are a traitor to me and join Mario's gang. Whilst there, you must spy on him, then report to me. Call me Dave when you do so, though." Bowser explained. Spiky Dagbert said he would act accordingly, and so he then set off for Toad Town with the false intention of joining Mario and Co...


	36. Chapter 35

"Hopefully, this should-a lead us to-a General Guy. We'll have-a that Star Spirit soon." Mario said to the rest of the party as they walked through the 'Toy Tunnel', made up of stacking blocks and teddy bears.

"Mind you, we should also discuss how we're gonna kick General Guy's butt when we get there." Sam suggested. And so, Mario and Co. walked through the toy Tunnel, discussing fighting tactics until...

"Oh! I'm feeling shaking under my feet!" Kooper panicked. He looked behind him, and saw that the tunnel was collapsing!

"Let's-a go! And-a fast!" Mario yelled, and soon, the party were darting through the Toy Tunnel, trying to avoid being brained by falling blocks and teddy bears. Sam, who seemed to be using his long legs to his advantage sped ahead, but then... FWUMFF! No less than twenty teddy bears pinned him to the ground. And dirty great big ones, too.

"We can't go on, guys! The tunnel collapsed at both ends." Sam shouted from under the pile of stuffed bears. The party lifted all the teddy bears off him and Kooper helped him to his feet.

"It's OK, though. I'm sure if we climb out from under the blocks and bears, we should still be able to reach General Guy." Parakarry said reassuringly. With that, the party pushed aside huge wooden blocks and big pink fluffy stuffed bears and pulled themselves out of the collapsed tunnel.

"Maybe it was a good job the tunnel collapsed," Watt said, "because I can see a way into that big blue thing General Guy was in." She then zoomed over to the opening and flashed brightly. Mario translated this as a signal for the party to follow her, and that's what they did.

"Well, we'd better go in. The sooner we beat General Guy, the sooner we can get that Star Spirit." Sam said, and then they went through the opening, not completely knowing what lay ahead for them...


	37. Chapter 36

It had been 3 minutes since Spiky Dagbert, the leader of the Koopatrol army, had arrived at Toad Town. He was helping in Bowser's plan by using a bit of sneaky spying - by joining Mario and Co. to do so.

"Hey, have you seen a plumber named Mario around here? I want to ask him if I can join his gang." Spiky Dagbert said to one of the Toads. The Toad replied that Mario was in Shy Guy's Toy Box. Thanking the Toad, Spiky Dagbert made his way to the Toy Box.

"OK, Mario. I'm coming to join your bunch." Spiky Dagbert said to himself as he climbed into the Toy Box.

He saw huge piles of teddy bears and stacking blocks. These were the remains of the Toy Tunnel, but Spiky Dagbert didn't know that. Then, coming out of the toys, he saw Mario!

"Wait up, dude! I want to join you!" he shouted as he ran towards Mario. Now, Spiky Dagbert isn't known for running, so he wasn't too good at it. He kept falling and stumbling.


	38. Chapter 37

"I'm-a sure I heard someone a-shouting for me." Mario said after he reached the opening that Watt had pointed out.

"Mario! Wait... up!" Spiky Dagbert wheezed as he ran up. Sam Hammer stepped in front of Mario.

"Huh. I know him. That's Spiky Dagbert, leader of the Koopatrol army. I'm thinkin' he's here to aid Bowser. Knowin' that tramp." he said.

"Well, we'll-a let him join, but-a if he puts a foot wrong, I'll-a kick him out." Mario whispered to Sam. Spiky Dagbert then came over to Mario, his chest heaving.

"Oh... huff... Mario... I... huff... want to... huff... join your... party." Spiky Dagbert panted. Sam laughed at him.

"Hey, Spiky Dagbert. You need to work out more." he said as Spiky Dagbert tried to get his breath back. The Koopatrol leader gave Sam a funny look.

"Typical. You were forever insulting me back at Bowser's Castle. Anyway, why'd you leave?" Spiky Dagbert asked.

"Well, I found out that Bowser was gonna destroy this world and put a worse one in its place. Not only that, but he's a lumberin' idiot. Can't stand lumberin' idiots. So, why'd _you_ leave, Spiky Dagbert?" Sam said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Well, I was being overworked. I don't like overwork." But then, Sam and Spiky Dagbert's conversation was cut short by Lady Bow. She cleared her throat.

"Excuse me, boys, but aren't we meant to be going in to beat General Guy?" she said sternly. Spiky Dagbert looked confused, but that was only because he hadn't been filled in yet. No-one told him about the situation; maybe they suspected the same thing that Sam did (that Spiky Dagbert was spying for Bowser).

"Well-a what are we waiting for? Let's-a go!" Mario shouted, and then the party entered the room where General Guy was waiting.

"Ah, so you have arrived to take my Star Spirit, I presume? Well, you won't be getting it without a fight!" General Guy shouted at the party as they came through the door to his room.

"Huh. You really wanna watch yourself. After all, we're takin' no prisoners. You ready to lose your puny life?" Sam taunted. General Guy silenced him, but he didn't take too well. After all, he was dealing with Sam Hammer, one of the trickiest to reason with.

"Hey! You don't have a right to tell me to shut up! Now listen, and _listen well_, because I'll only be sayin' this once. You wanna waste your life, so be it. You'll regret messin' with..." Sam began to yell, but he never finished.

"Now, Shy Guy Soldiers! Align yourselves!" General Guy shouted, and then the Shy Guy Soldiers came marching out, right in front of Mario and Co..

"Hah! Call that an army? Seriously, I've seen better. And I'm a better leader than you." Sam taunted. General Guy was infuriated! He sent the Shy Guy Soldiers (all 20 of them) to try and knock Sam down. Instead, he took out his huge sledgehammer and swung it in a savage arc. All the Soldiers were knocked down like skittles.

"Aw, c'mon! Give us somethin' that's more challengin'. I could've done that blindfolded." Sam said to General Guy. Then Spiky Joe and Parakarry stepped forward.

"I bring sharp spikes to skewer you on!" Spiky Joe shouted.

"I bring winged shell-death from the skies!" Parakarry yelled. Spiky Dagbert ran in front of Spiky Joe and said,

"I bring more sharp spikes to turn you into shish kebab!" General Guy was practically fuming now, so he sent out the Stilt Guy Squadron (NOTE: Stilt Guys are Shy Guys on stilts). The General then sent them out, and Spiky Dagbert, Spiky Joe and Parakarry attacked and knocked them all off the stilts. Sam then came in to hammer out a few differences with that whopping great sledgehammer of his.

"Oh, this is not over yet! You may have taken out my battalions, but you won't take _me_ down!" General Guy shouted. Spiky Joe, Spiky Dagbert and Parakarry moved back, and Black stepped forward.

"Do you have the mettle to take us all on? Or are you instilled with too much fear?" Black snarled. General Guy flinched slightly.

"Nuh... no. I'm a proud general. I have enough mettle to take on an army twenty times the size of your rabble! Disgraceful! Your army has no uniforms!" the General shouted.

"Armies don't depend on uniforms, you useless jerk. What an army does is much more important than how they look. Your armies got trounced. So face the music and admit defeat." Black said in a darker, more sinister tone than the one that Lord Bowser was frightened by. General Guy was even more scared.

"I-I c-can't. It's jus-just that... I-I can't..." General Guy stammered.

"Is it because you'll miss out on all the glory? Think about it, General Guy. Glory isn't everything! You can't stand the bitter taste of defeat. That is weak. _You_ are weak. I have had to face defeat many times, and I've had to get on with it. Victory isn't everything!" Black snapped, his tone becoming more and more inhuman as his levels of malice and rage increased. General Guy was terrified!

"Help me! HEEEELP!" General Guy screamed. Black sidled up very close to him.

"I'll help you, if you hand over the Star Spirit in your possession." he sneered. General Guy reached a trembling hand into his breast pocket and pulled out a card. He gave it to Black.

"Nuh-now will you h-help me?" General Guy asked timidly. Black turned to him after giving the card to Mario. The card swirled above Mario and transformed into the Star Spirit Muskular, who gave Mario his Power, Chill Out, which decreases enemy attacking and defensive power. Muskular then returned to Star Haven.

After Muskular had gone to Star Haven, Black paced towards General Guy with an air of confidence and intimidation.

"No, you'll have to help yourself!" he snapped. The General scuttled off in terror.

"That shows his weakness as a leader. If he can't hold his nerve against me, he's weak." Black snarled to the party after they had left the Toy Box.

"You've actually got a point, Black. You're very intimidating, but that's only because of your tone of voice. I wouldn't like to be on the wrong end of the stick with you." Lady Bow replied.

"Huh. You'll have to test me at some point, Black. Then I'll know how strong a leader I am, because I'm thinkin' that I'm not as strong as I believe I am." Sam added. Spiky Dagbert then stopped the party.

"Sam, you were right. I am working for Bowser. But I don't want to anymore, because I've seen what you guys can do. Please, will you accept me?" he pleaded. Mario asked him,

"Are you-a sure this isn't a joke? Because I'm-a still not trusting you yet."

"Completely sure. I don't want to waste my time with that smelly Koopa." Spiky Dagbert replied.

"To be honest, no-one wants to hang with Bowser, do they?" Watt added, rather intrusively. Sam told her to not butt in, and she obeyed him.

"Well, let's-a get back to Toad Town!" Mario said, and then the party headed back to Toad Town to discuss the location of the next Star Spirit.


	39. Chapter 38

Lord Bowser rubbed his hands together gleefully. This time there would be no hitches. He was going to beat Mario and Co. and no-one was going to stop him now. He contacted Spiky Dagbert.

"Hey, Spiky Dagbert. It's me, David. How's it with Mario and the gang?" Bowser asked in a disguised tone of voice. There was a long pause.

"Better than being with you, Bowser!" came Spiky Dagbert's sharp reply. There was an even longer pause. Bowser was trying to think of what to say.

"WHAT? So you've gone traitor, too?" Bowser said, horrified. Spiky Dagbert took this to his advantage and thought up some rather harsh insults.

"Yep, and I'm loving every minute of it!" he exclaimed. Now, Bowser isn't too happy with this, as he was hoping to use the 'traitor' thing to his advantage. Seems like it didn't quite work...

"How dare you, Spiky Dagbert! I hate you!" Bowser roared. The Koopatrol leader was hardly scared by this - he found it very funny. After all, if you know Bowser well, you'll find he's not as intimidating as most people say he is - even if he does go round snatching princesses and hating plumbers.

"Aw, does ickle Bowser want his bottle?" Spiky Dagbert taunted. Bowser didn't reply. He just stopped contact and stormed out of the room.


	40. Chapter 39

Mario and Co. had just got back to Toad Town from Shy Guy's Toy Box. As the party arrived at their usual meeting spot, someone seemed to be waiting there, as though they were expecting an arrival.

"Ah! Good day, chaps. I was wondering if you could help me on a little expedition." the stranger said. He was Professor Kolorado, a famous Koopa archaeologist.

"And I was wonderin' if you'd drop callin' me a chap." Sam snapped at the stranger. Mario the came up to him and said,

"Hello. I'm-a Mario, and this is-a my gang. What-a do you want?"

"I am Professor Kolorado, the most famous Koopa archaeologist in the Mushroom Kingdom. I was wondering if you would join me on an expedition. You see, I would love to travel to Lavalava Island, but my wife will complain, so I am forced to ask you to come with me." the Professor explained.

"Maybe your wife is just worried about you." Watt said.

"Or maybe she doesn't like you going out." Spiky Dagbert suggested.

"I know. It's because when you go out, you never tell your wife where you are going, or ask her if she wants to come along. She doesn't like it because you're secretive." Black snarled. The Professor flinched after Black had finished speaking.

"My my, old chap, you seem to know my wife well." the Professor said, patting Black on the top of his head.

"Don't do that. And don't call me an old chap either." Black snapped, pushing the Professor's arm away. He then went on to explain that he was quite good at spotting little things that could cause a wife to go a little crazy over something.

"I see. Well, I should really ask your names." the Professor said, and then everyone went to introduce themselves.

"I'm Spiky Joe, and there's Spiky Dagbert."

"The name's Parakarry. I deliver letters."

"Hm hm hee hee hee! I'm Watt!"

"I'm called Black."

"The name's Sam Hammer."

"I'm Kooper."

"I am the princess of the Boos, Lady Bow."

After all the members of the party had introduced themselves, Professor Kolorado then went on to explain the expedition to Lavalava Island, and he mentioned something that interested Sam.

"Huh. A card? What sort of design was it?" Sam asked.

"It had a strange insignia on the back, and a star on the front." the Professor replied. The other party members heard this, and then Kooper said to Mario,

"That's a Star Spirit! We have to help the Prof, now!" To which Mario replied,

"You're-a right. Let's-a get one of the others to-a tell him." That's when Mario asked Sam if he would ask the Professor to allow them to do their own treasure hunting.

"Look, Professor... I was thinkin'... is it OK if we do our own treasure-huntin'? That card you mentioned, that's the only thing we're lookin' for." Sam said to the Professor. The Professor said that that was OK, as long as the card was _the only piece of treasure they took_.

"But first, chaps, we must go back to Koopa Village. I have to tell my wife where I'm going, and I'll also have to get us a way to reach Lavalava Island." the Professor said, and so he started to walk along the road to Koopa Village. A few seconds later he returned.

"My my, we won't be able to get to the village. Some huge Koopa is blocking the way and... unless someone has 100 coins, we won't be able to pass!" the Professor panicked. Sam went in front him.

"Look, before you get your shell in a twist, we're not gonna be payin' this fool. We're gonna beat him up." Sam said to the Professor, and then he ran towards the road to Koopa Village.

"He's-a gonna need some help." Mario said. Lady Bow stopped him.

"Look, he dealt with Tubba Blubba on his own. Give him a chance." she said firmly. Mario backed down, and said that if Sam was in trouble, they would go then.


	41. Chapter 40

"What do you think you're doing, dirtying my road?" shouted a very annoyed Kent C. Koopa from behind a bush. He was a greedy money-grabber who didn't care about others. After all, lots of people used Pleasure Path, the road between Toad Town and Koopa Village. Great place to charge tolls, but has Kent C. Koopa bitten off more than he can chew?

"Dirtyin' _your road_, huh? Don't see your name on it." Sam retorted. Kent C. Koopa now came out from behind the bush, and he was about twice as tall as Sam... and five times fatter. He stormed over to where Sam was and stood in front of him.

"You know the drill. 100 coins or you don't pass." Kent C. Koopa said in a very demanding tone. Sam reached for his money bag but missed spectacularly. He pulled out a giant sledgehammer instead.

"Funny purse you have there. I can imagine all the jangling coins in there." Kent C. Koopa said. Sam laughed at him.

"This is no purse. It's a sledgehammer. Ever seen a sledgehammer before?" Sam grunted. Kent C. Koopa didn't look scared. In fact, he was very much amused.

"What? You want to fight me? Hah! Look at the size of me! I'd trounce you with my eyes closed." he laughed. Sam looked at him with a piercing glare.

"You know, size isn't everythin'. Just because you're bigger doesn't always mean you'll win. After all, I've taken on foes who are eight times my size and thirty times my weight. So fightin' you should be a pushover." he sneered. Still, Kent C. Koopa didn't look scared.

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you... this will hurt." he said, and then he threw a punch at Sam, who dodged and contacted Kent C. Koopa's side with the sledgehammer. It didn't harm him... too much.

"You're sneaky. Dodge this!" Kent C. Koopa shouted, and then he threw his shell (which is where he tucked inside his shell, whirls it round really fast and flings himself at an opponent, in this case Sam). It knocked the leader of the Hammer Army to the floor.

"You're a little tougher. Good. I do like bein' challenged." Sam said darkly, and then he put his sledgehammer away and threw his shell at Kent C. Koopa. Because the shell that Sam has on is made of titanium and diamond, it hurled Kent C. Koopa to the ground.

"Ah! You have an unfair advantage in your shell!" Kent C. Koopa shouted.

"I never fight fair." was Sam's cool reply. In seconds, Sam was on Kent C. Koopa again, ready to round another blow, when...

"Ouch!"

Sam had been caught in the stomach with a vicious punch form Kent C. Koopa. It catapulted him back thirty feet. Severely winded, Sam tried to pick himself up and punch Kent C. Koopa back, but he couldn't, as he was struggling to manage to pull himself to his feet. He decided that he would half-walk, half-crawl back to Mario and Co. and tell them of the situation.


	42. Chapter 41

After a discussion between the party when Sam had got back to them, it had been decided that Black would be next to try to take on Kent C. Koopa.

"You know the drill, 100 coins or you don't pass!" Kent C. Koopa shouted as Black strolled down Pleasure Path in a carefree manner.

"You're not pulling any cash out of my pocket!" Black snapped, his anger beginning to ramp up. Kent C. Koopa was about to punch Black, when...

"Are you _really_ capable of punching someone smaller than you? Or are you all soft and smooshy inside?" Black snarled. Kent C. Koopa was taken aback! He began to feel a little nervous. But he pulled himself together and was about to throw his shell, when Black spoke again.

"Do you realise that size doesn't make much odds in a fight? So you still have a chance of losing, even with your great size." he snarled, this time in a much darker tone. This affected Kent C. Koopa more, making him feel even more nervous.

"Do you know what you are?" Black asked in his dark, snarly, sinister tone.

"Nuh... no." Kent C. Koopa stammered. Black spoke again.

"You are a sad, sick, psychologically deteriorated, money-grabbing maniac. No-one in their right mind would do this sort of thing." he snarled, in a tone so dark that it has never been heard (and 'psychologically deteriorated' is the fancier term for someone who's lost their mind).

"Wh-what makes you s-say th-that?" Kent C. Koopa asked timidly.

"Everything I've heard about you." Black snapped in reply. Kent C. Koopa began to look very pale and started shivering.

"I'm quite warm. It's not that cold." Black snarled. That scared Kent C. Koopa even more.

"Alright... y-you win. I'm going t-to g-go away from h-here." Kent C. Koopa said in a small voice, and then he ran away crying. Black went back to tell the rest of the party, and Professor Kolorado, that Pleasure Path was free from Kent C. Koopa.


	43. Chapter 42

Professor Kolorado had led Mario and Co. back to his house in Koopa Village so that they could discuss how to get to Lavalava Island.

"It has been in my dreams that I would go to this fabulous island one day." the Professor said excitedly.

"How do you know it's fabulous if you've never been there?" Sam snapped at the Professor. Mario explained to the Professor that Sam was right - how could you know if a place was good or bad if you haven't been there?

"So, anyway... do you have any plans for transport, like a boat?" Lady Bow asked. The Professor shook his head. He wanted to know the route before he set out. Whilst Watt, Spiky Dagbert, Lady Bow, Black and Kooper studied the Professor's map, Spiky Joe, Sam Hammer, Parakarry and Mario spoke with the Professor.

"So-a... you've-a never been here before, am I right-a?" Mario said.

"Yes, Mario. The island has fascinated me ever since I was a young Koopa." the Professor replied. Sam wasn't too interested in the Professor's past, so he just scraped his feet on the carpeted floor and grunted. However, Parakarry listened with great enthusiasm. The Professor then began his story.

"_It all began when I was growing up in Koopa Village, and I was discussing remote islands with my childhood friends. Eventually, one of them mentioned Lavalava Island, one of the most remote islands in the Mushroom Kingdom. He told me that he was going to go there, but I dismissed it as a joke. Never again would I do that._

_I never saw him after that. If all is well, then he should be living in harmony with the island and its inhabitants. I know it has been some time, around 35 years... but I would give anything to see that he was safe and happy._

_But before he left, he told me that there was one way to get to the island, and it was deeply secret. I could not tell anyone of this unless I trusted them with all my heart._"

The words 'one way' and 'deeply secret' intrigued Sam, so he stopped scraping his feet on the floor and listened to the rest of the Professor's story.

"_He said that there was a secret Warp Pipe hidden within this very village. It is obscured from normal view, so he said that you have to grope around to find it. That Warp Pipe leads to another small island nearby Lavalava Island, and then there is another Warp Pipe that will take you to Lavalava Island._

_I groped around for 10 years, but gave myself up for lost. I never thought I would find the Warp Pipe that lead to this wonderful island. For 25 years, I tried what I could to see if I could find it again. Even trying to search other parts of the Mushroom Kingdom for clues yielded no fruitful information._"

Just then, a female Koopa came strolling in and shouting:

"There you are, Kolorado! Where have you been? Gallivanting again, as per usual. And who are _these_ that you've brought in?"

"Well, Lydia... I can explain. You see, my good friend Mario brought his chaps round. We were having a calm discussion on how to get to Lavalava Island." the Professor tried to explain to his wife. Lydia gasped.

"Lavalava Island? _Lavalava Island_? See, typical Kolorado, globetrotting without asking if his wife wants to come with him! Mario, dear, you don't really want to get involved with this clown." she said bitterly.

"It's-a OK. He's-a heading to Lavalava Island because we're-a going there." Mario explained. Lydia was curious as to know why, so she asked Black, as he seemed to be left out.

"We're going to Lavalava Island to rescue a Star Spirit." Black snarled. Lydia nodded her head and then turned back to Professor Kolorado.

"Right, Kolorado! You make sure you help Mario and his friends get that Star Spirit, or else there'll be no more adventuring for you!" Lydia shouted. Sam nudged Parakarry in the side and whispered,

"I wouldn't like to have a wife like that. She'd be naggin' me non-stop, and I hate people who nag." To which Parakarry replied,

"I wouldn't be able to come home from a mail round in peace if I had a wife like her. But then again, if I were in her position, I wouldn't be too happy if my husband went gallivanting without telling me first." Sam agreed with him, and then Lydia spoke again.

"Mario, dear... would you like me to make you some sandwiches and some drinks for your trek across Lavalava Island?" she asked. Mario replied that he would like that, and so Lydia went to make the sandwiches. But when she was coming out of the kitchen, Sam stopped her.

"Hey. If he keeps gallivantin' off, I reckon he should stay here and YOU come to Lavalava Island with us." Sam said to Lydia.

"Are you Mario's adviser or something?" she asked. Sam said that he only suggested the best course of action because he was a natural leader. Lydia agreed with him, so she gave the sandwiches and drinks to Mario and said to the Professor,

"Kolorado, it's been decided. You're staying here, and I'm going with Mario and his friends." The Professor did not like this arrangement at all, so he tried to explain to Lydia that she should stay at home.

"No, because Mario's adviser said that I should go!" Lydia shouted, indicating Sam as she said that. Before the Professor could argue any more, Lydia had stormed out the door, with Mario and Co. following close behind. Before they sought out the Warp Pipe that the Professor had mentioned, the party introduced themselves. After the introductions, Mario said,

"Let's-a go!" and then the party hunted high and low for the Warp Pipe. It was tucked behind a large tree. They all went in and found themselves on the small island. Then, they searched for the other Warp Pipe. They found it and went through it.

"Here we are. Lavalava Island." Sam said as the party walked over the beach from a small rocky cave.


	44. Chapter 43

Stretching out for many miles beyond the party's line of vision, the sea lapped gently at the sand that formed the beach of Lavalava Island. Behind this, there was a tangled mass of trees and wildly growing shrubbery.

"This is beautiful! I don't know why my husband never did this with me, because it is so gorgeous!" Lydia exclaimed.

"Lydia, don't get too excited over the scenery. We're lookin' for that Star Spirit. Don't forget." Sam said to her. Lydia backed down, and then asked Mario what was to do next.

"Since we don't-a know the island very well, we should-a ask the locals for-a maps or advice." he said. They headed towards a small wooden structure that, from the distance they were, looked like a tree in winter. As they got closer, however, they could see that it was a signpost.

"That looks like a place we could get information." Black snarled, jogging ahead so he could see what the signpost said. He read it for a brief second, and then jogged back towards the party.

"That sign read 'Yoshi's Village'. Any ideas?" he snarled, giving Mario a harder, icier stare than normal.

"I think-a we should-a visit. And-a... Black, don't-a stare at me like that." Mario replied, walking towards the signpost. The other party members followed closely behind. They were greeted by a very chubby Yoshi.

"Good day, tourists! I am the elder of Yoshi's Village, a village of friendly fruit-eating dinosaurs called Yoshis. How may I help?" the elder said to Mario and Co.. Sam stepped forward and explained the ordeal.

"OK, if you can help us, you'll know that there's a Star Spirit on this island." he said. The Yoshi elder seemed confused.

"Excuse me? A Star Spirit? I have no idea what you are on about, sir." he managed to say. Sam yelled at him not to call him 'sir'.

"You know this place, don't you? Well, if you help us find what we're lookin' for, I may be able to be vaguely generous." Sam said with a hint of bitterness in his tone. The Yoshi elder pondered over his thoughts for a brief second then he said,

"Now that you mention it... we do have a Star Shrine in Mt. Lavalava. This was built to honour the Star Spirit that came here. It is a bit tricky to get to, so listen carefully. You need to go through Jade Jungle, up to a big tree, and meet up with Raphael the Raven. He will lead you through the deepest part of Jade Jungle to get to Mt. Lavalava."

"And who's Raphael the Raven? Doesn't sound familiar."

"Good traveller, he is the patron deity of Lavalava Island, and the one who is said to lead the chosen one to the Star Shrine of Mt. Lavalava."

"Chosen one? Huh. Sound's interestin'. It's gotta be Mario." Sam said to the Yoshi elder, indicating Mario as he said that.

"Well, travellers, the entrance to Jade Jungle is right there." the Yoshi elder said, indicating a clearing surrounded by trees and shrubs.

"Let's-a go!" Mario shouted, and the party headed into Jade Jungle, seeking out Raphael the Raven.


	45. Chapter 44

"Hmm. Something is-a telling me that it's-a not going to be easy." Mario said to the party as they shoved shrubs aside to enter Jade Jungle. It was a huge jungle, with lots of thick foliage lining - and sometimes covering - every path.

A loud noise sounded from behind a small bush. The party looked around, but couldn't find anything. Then, a Shy Guy with a spear sprang out at them!

"That's a Spear Guy. They don't take too well to us walking through the jungle like this." Black snarled, pointing at the Spear Guy.

"It's nothin' a sledgehammer won't fix!" Sam shouted, taking out his sledgehammer and swinging it at the Spear Guy. It knocked him to the floor with titanic force.

"We have to be careful. I don't like jungles." Lady Bow said, straightening one of the ribbons on her head. She floated in the middle of the party, so that she couldn't see what was going on in the masses of tangled trees and entwined shrubs.

The party then stopped in front of a huge rock blocking their way. Spiky Dagbert paid close attention to the detail of it.

"You know, this could be a door," he explained, "and if we know a code or have a key, we should be able to pass." Thinking it wise to take his advice, Black and Sam both looked at the rock, seeing if there was a way to move it aside before they thought of keys, codes and other things. They found a chink in the surrounding rock. Sam and Black thought that that would be a perfect place to use some sort of implement, like a crowbar.

"Alright guys, then try it!" Spiky Dagbert said, and so Sam and Black found a strong thick twig, which they wedged into the chink and pulled hard on it. The rock didn't want to shift.

"Ugh. This thing won't be movin' soon." Sam said, shaking the pain out of his hands.

"Try again!" Spiky Dagbert said, and so Sam and Black got hold of the makeshift crowbar again. This time, they pulled sharply together. The rock moved, but only slightly.

"Pull harder!" Spiky Dagbert shouted.

"What do you think you are, a slave driver? You're not bossin' me around that easily, pal." Sam said in a slightly angered tone.

"Sorry, Sam. OK guys, try pulling harder!" Spiky Dagbert said, and so Sam and Black mustered more strength and pulled on the makeshift crowbar sharply. The rock moved slightly more than last time, but it was a meagre difference.

"We're-a gonna need more muscle power." Mario said to Spiky Dagbert.

"No, Mario. They'll shift it in time." Spiky Dagbert said, and then he turned back to where Sam and Black were standing.

"You're gonna have to pull harder, guys!" Spiky Dagbert shouted. Sweating profusely, Sam and Black positioned themselves for another pull. They pulled sharply, and the rock moved again. It was still only a minor judder.

"And again! Keep at it, guys. Hercules is now officially a wimp!" Spiky Dagbert shouted. He'd added in some pep talk to keep them going. Even with Spiky Dagbert's dose of pep talk, neither Sam nor Black felt like doing any more.

"My back hurts. My arms hurt. My legs hurt. My head hurts." Sam grumbled.

"I've got enough sweat in my shell to submerge a submarine in!" Black snarled with a depressed tone to his voice.

"Aw, c'mon! It's almost moved. Look!" Spiky Dagbert shouted. Sam and Black looked at the rock, which had moved to reveal an entrance. However, the entrance was still four-fifths blocked.

"Almost moved? Look at it! It's still blockin' that gap!" Sam shouted at Spiky Dagbert. Mario tried to explain the situation to Spiky Dagbert.

"Look, you see-a... the entrance is-a still blocked by that-a big rock. We're-a gonna need more muscle power."

Spiky Dagbert didn't heed Mario's advice.

"Right! Sam! Black! Pull again!" he yelled. Sam and Black pulled again, but they just couldn't muster any strength to shift the rock even slightly.

"No more. I can't keep goin' like this." Sam panted.

"Yeah, and my arms are killing me." groaned a rather tired Black. Spiky Dagbert shouted at them again to pull, but Black didn't move. Nor did Sam. Instead, they stared at Spiky Dagbert, their eyes flaming.

"Hey hey, guys, don't give me evil looks. Keep pulling that twig!" Spiky Dagbert shouted.

"Don't you get it? We're exhausted! So, why don't you listen to Mario and have someone else do it?" Sam retorted.

"You guys are the strongest we got." said Spiky Dagbert.

"Ugh. But even a bit of extra strength could shift this thing. Fine. I'll ask someone." Black snarled, walking over to the rest of the party.

"You look strong. Come help me and Sam move this rock." Black sneered at Parakarry. The Paratroopa obeyed, and he flew over to the twig wedged in the chink near the rock.

"OK. On the count of three, we'll pull together, right?" Sam said. Black readied himself.

"One!" Parakarry grabbed hold of the twig.

"Two!" Sam them readied himself to pull.

"Three!" All three of them pulled sharply on the twig. The rock moved, then slid back to reveal a dark passageway.

"What did I tell you, Spiky Dagbert? We just needed that bit extra muscle power." Sam said to Spiky Dagbert, and then he turned to Parakarry and thanked him.

"Well, what are we-a standing here for? Let's-a go!" Mario said, and then the party entered the passageway, not knowing what lay ahead...


	46. Chapter 45

Mario and Co. finally made it out of the dark passageway. There, they found themselves standing in front of a huge tree. It stretched about 650 feet into the sky.

"We're-a gonna have to climb that." Mario said to the party.

"We don't have to. Look!" Lady Bow said, indicating a hole cut into the tree. Watt took a closer look.

"Lady Bow's right. There are stairs in here!" she remarked. With Watt and Lady Bow beckoning them all, they went into the tree.

"Wow! I've never seen anythin' like it!" Sam said in an amazed voice.

"Whoa, you're right. You know, I want to stay here and admire it for a bit." Black snarled, and then he walked around the base of the tree, admiring the ridges and furrows in the wood.

The rest of the party climbed the stairs, and began to ascend the tree. When they were halfway up, they heard a cackle. A very familiar cackle, especially to Sam, Spiky Joe and Spiky Dagbert.

"I know that laugh! That... belongs to Kammy Koopa!" Spiky Joe said to Mario.

"You've-a gotta be kidding!" Mario gasped.

"No. He's tellin' the truth. That's Kammy Koopa alright." Sam remarked.


	47. Chapter 46

"Nyeah heh heh heh!" Kammy Koopa laughed as she pointed the Star Rod at Raphael the Raven. She had asked Bowser if she could borrow it before she set out, and he had said yes.

"What are you doing?" Raphael shouted.

"You will now flatten Mario when he comes to find you!" Kammy cackled. Raphael didn't pay any attention to her, and instead knocked her off her broom.

"I don't think so!" retorted a rather annoyed Raphael. He wasn't going to help a scheming Magikoopa like Kammy Koopa!

"Fine. If you won't flatten Mario, I'll have to force you to flatten him!" Kammy yelled, and then she aimed the Star Rod at Raphael, muttered a curse under her breath and shot a ray of magic from the rod. It contacted Raphael, and he said to Kammy,

"Mario will be exterminated." Kammy had brainwashed Raphael the Raven, and now he was obeying her orders!

"That's much better. Mweh heh ha hoo ho hyuck yuck ho HACK!" Kammy laughed as she climbed back onto her broom and sped off to Bowser's Castle, cackling with delight.


	48. Chapter 47

"What was all that about?" Spiky Dagbert said as the party ascended further up the tree to see Raphael the Raven.

"I think Kammy's up to somethin'." Sam muttered. Watt seemed to have overheard him.

"You're right. Oh, I hope Raphael is OK..." she said in a quiet voice. Something made the party stop.

"We need to walk along this vine if we're to reach the top." Spiky Dagbert said, pointing at a long, thick vine.

"That looks dangerous!" Kooper exclaimed.

"It is," replied Spiky Dagbert, "so has anyone got an idea?"

"I say... him!" Spiky Joe said, pointing at Parakarry.

"Parakarry, any ideas?" Spiky Dagbert asked.

"Nope." said Parakarry sadly.

"I know!" Spiky Joe said. Spiky Dagbert asked him what it was.

"Parakarry could fly us all to the top!" he said.

"Wait a moment! I'm not strong enough to lift everybody!" shouted a rather disgruntled Parakarry. He really wasn't happy with this arrangement at all.

"OK. Let's prioritise. Who really doesn't want to walk on this vine?" Spiky Dagbert asked. Kooper and Lydia responded quickly.

"Sorted. OK, Parakarry, I want you to take Kooper and Lydia to the top." the Koopatrol leader said, and so Parakarry grabbed hold of Kooper, told Lydia to climb onto his back and flew them to the top of the tree, placed them down, and then told them to wait for the others.

"OK! Who else doesn't want to walk on that vine?" Spiky Dagbert asked. Spiky Joe and Mario said they didn't want to, so Parakarry told Mario to sit on his back. He then picked up Spily Joe and worked his wings like crazy to get them both up. Whilst he did that, Lady Bow and Watt floated up after him to join Kooper.

Sweating profusely, Parakarry flew back down to Spiky Dagbert.

"Can't do any more." he panted. Spiky Dagbert acknowledged this, and then Parakarry flew back up to rejoin the rest of the party, using every last drop of energy left in him.

"OK Sam, we've gotta brave the vine." Spiky Dagbert said.

"This is just great. If only Parakarry had had more in him, it would've cut a lot of time off. After all, I don't know how long it's gonna be before Bowser tries to destroy the world." Sam replied.

"I'm a tad nervous. After you." Spiky Dagbert said nervously, stepping aside to let Sam past.

Sam then stepped onto the vine. It seemed to be able to take his weight. He gingerly took a few more steps. Still, the vine held firm.

"Somethin' doesn't sound right. This vine isn't really holdin'. I can hear tearin'." Sam said, panicking slightly.

"What?" Spiky Dagbert exclaimed.

"You've got to get onto the vine! We gotta hurry!" Sam shouted, running up the vine as he did so. Spiky Dagbert followed him onto the vine, and then it gave way under Spiky Dagbert's feet. He just managed to hold on.

"Sam, help! The vine snapped!" Spiky Dagbert screamed, and so Sam climbed down the vine and pulled Spiky Dagbert up. More of the vine was giving way now.

"We're gonna have to climb up, and fast." Sam said, and so he and Spiky Dagbert began scrambling up the fairly smooth vine as fast as they could manage.

Eventually, after ten minutes of frantic climbing, both Sam and Spiky Dagbert made it to the top of the vine.

"Phew, that was close." Sam panted.

"Too close." added a rather tired Spiky Dagbert.

"We're-a all here now. Let's-a go." Mario said, and then the party walked along one of the branches of the huge tree and saw Raphael the Raven.

"So you've arrived?" Raphael asked.

"Wait," Sam whispered to Spiky Dagbert, "we're missin' someone. Where the heck is Black?"

"No way." Spiky Dagbert mumbled back.

"Yes way, I'm afraid." Sam whispered.

"Oh yeah! Of course! He stopped to admire the tree. Unless he can find that vine, he won't be able to join us." Spiky Dagbert replied quietly.

"Yes. We've-a come." Mario said in response to Raphael's question.

"Good. Because now your journey ends here, Mario!" Raphael shouted, and then he proceeded to try and knock Mario off the tree. Thankfully (for Mario) he missed.

"I know what that fiend Kammy has done! She's brainwashed Raphael!" Lydia gasped.

"Lydia, you're right. From what the Yoshi elder told us, this'd be the last thing Raphael would do to us." Sam replied coolly. He then stepped in front of Raphael.

"Greetings, Raphael. I am Sam Hammer, the proud leader of the Hammer Army." Sam said in a proud voice, bowing as he said this.

"Ah, Sam. What is your request?" Raphael asked.

"Well," Sam explained, "myself and my comrades here require the knowledge of the location of a Star Spirit hidden on this very island. Accordin' to the elder of the Yoshi tribe, you know where said Star Spirit is."

"Do you come on behalf of Lord Bowser?" Sam didn't know what to say. After all, he'd turned traitor, and so he couldn't say he did.

"No, Raphael. This is a personal mission, and only my closest friends have come to accompany me."

"A personal mission? Any particular reason why I should give you the location of this Star Spirit?"

"Yes, I am tryin' to keep the peace in the world. I'm a peacekeeper, you see." After Sam had finished speaking, Raphael handed him a green stone.

"Show this to the Raven near Mt. Lavalava. The Star Spirit is in there." Raphael said, and then he went back into his nest. Quickly, Sam returned to the party and then they all jumped down from the tree and landed in a huge fern plant.

"How... what... Sam, how did you...?" Spiky Dagbert asked, stunned.

"See, Kammy Koopa doesn't think I'm really a traitor to Bowser, she only thinks I'm pretendin', which is why I could use my authority to get around that brainwashin'. That Magikoopa isn't as smart as she thinks." came Sam's reply. Lady Bow quietly reminded everyone that Black wasn't around.

"You're-a right. Where's-a Black got to?" Mario said after he had brushed all the fern spores off his dungarees.

"I'm here." came a snarly reply.

"Ah! Black! Great timin'. We figured that our next Star Spirit is in Mt. Lavalava, and I've proven that Kammy Koopa is thick." Sam said to Black. He then proceeded to tell Black about how he managed to use his authority to get around Kammy Koopa's brainwashing and negotiate with Raphael the Raven.

With no delay, the party set off to Mt. Lavalava. As Raphael the Raven had said to Sam, he showed the green stone to the Raven, who promptly placed it in a hollow. There was an almighty rumble as a rock door slid back to reveal a passageway into Mt. Lavalava.

"Mario, hit it!" Spiky Joe said.

"Let's-a go!" Mario shouted, and then the party went through the passageway into Mt. Lavalava...


	49. Chapter 48

Mario and Co. had finally made it into Mt. Lavalava, and now it was time to hunt for that Star Spirit that is hidden here.

"OK, so let's go and find a Star Spirit!" Lady Bow said to the party, and then they went deeper into the passageway. Sam sniffed up.

"It smells like... sulphur." he said. Black thought for a moment.

"Ugh! Mt. Lavalava is a _volcano_!" Black snarled. I'm afraid to say he's right. And no ordinary volcano either, this is an active volcano. Which means it could erupt at any time.

"Well, if we're in a volcano... we should really find that Star Spirit sharpish." Sam said, and then he went further in. The narrow passageway opened out into a vast chamber glowing with the heat of the lava below. There was a precarious rocky passage spiralling down deeper into the volcano.

"We've-a got no choice. We're-a gonna have to go down there." Mario said disappointingly. With their spirits low, the party began to make their way down the dangerously thin passage. About a quarter of the way down, Spiky Dagbert noticed something wrong.

"Hold it! From this point on, the passage is a lot weaker here. It may be best if we run as fast as we can, so we spend as little time on the passage as possible." he said. Everyone thought it was a good idea... well, everyone except Black.

"That's way too dangerous," he snapped, "and it could mean that one of us falls to our deaths!" Spiky Dagbert just told him to trust him. Reluctantly, Black followed along with Spiky Dagbert's idea.

Eventually, after running down the passage and dicing with death, the party saw a huge rocky platform with a pool of lava in the middle of it. Deciding it best to get on there, they did so. There was a low rumbling.

"Huh? What was that?" panicked Watt.

A long green stem came out from the pool of lava, followed by an enormous red spotty bulbous head. The head appeared to be on fire. It spoke.

"AH! MARIO HAS COME FOR MY STAR SPIRIT. YOU WILL NOT GET IT!" it said in a low booming voice.

"Says who?" Sam taunted.

"IT IS I, LAVA PIRANHA! I GUARD YOUR STAR SPIRIT, AND I WILL NOT GIVE IT TO IDIOTS LIKE YOU."

"Well-a, we'll-a fight you for it!" shouted Mario.

"En garde!" Black snarled.

"FINE, BUT DON'T COME CRYING IF YOU LOSE, MARIO!" roared the Lava Piranha. It then swung its head at Black, and knocked him to the floor. It then rounded on Mario, its teeth bared, when...

SMASH!

Mario whacked it with his Hammer. It coiled back, wounded. It rounded on Mario again, but this time it was Sam who dealt the next blow with his huge sledgehammer.

"YOU ARE GOOD FIGHTERS," boomed the Lava Piranha, "BUT YOU WILL NEVER REACH THE STAR SHRINE BEFORE THE VOLCANO ERUPTS!"

"Uh, guys... we have to hurry and find that Star Shrine." Lydia said.

"FINE. I WILL TELL YOU THAT IT IS JUST AHEAD OF ME. BE WARNED, YOU ONLY HAVE TWENTY MINUTES BEFORE THIS VOLCANO ERUPTS." roared the Lava Piranha.

"Let's-a go!" shouted Mario, and then the party ran past the Lava Piranha and through the passage it had indicated. They had to find the Star Shrine before it was too late!


	50. Chapter 49

Mario and Co. had managed to get past the Lava Piranha, and now they had to find the Star Shrine. They only had 20 minutes before the volcano erupted!

"Well, we're in a one-way passage. We should just run down here." said Sam.

"Yeah, good idea. No time to lose." Black snarled. With that, the party sprinted down the twisty passage, looking for any clues as to where the Star Shrine was. The party didn't have any luck. But then...

"Don't go to the Star Shrine! It is already submerged under the lava!" a voice shouted. The party stopped and looked around for the person who had spoken.

"Who-a was that?" Mario asked.

"This person sounds like a con artist. We're gonna keep lookin'." Sam whispered to Mario. That voice sounded again, but this time it was much louder.

"Seriously, don't go looking. It really is submerged. Oh, I forget to introduce myself. I am Misstar, one of the Star Spirits." shouted Misstar. The party stopped, and then Misstar came up to them.

"We don't have much time. This passage is already filling up with lava. Come with me." Misstar said, and then she flew to the end of the passage, where the party had entered. Mario and Co. ran after her, not looking behind them or stopping. The party didn't realise that the lava was sloshing in the passage faster than they thought.

"Oh, look! Mario, dear... hurry!" Lydia screamed. The party ran faster, but they could only just keep ahead of the sloshing river of lava.

"Come on! If we stop, we'll be fried!" panicked Kooper. The party ran even faster.

Eventually, the party caught up with Misstar. She said to them,

"My magic will only be able to carry all but one of you up. Who will risk running up to the top of the volcano?" Everyone turned to face one of the members. A rather bitter voice said sourly,

"Why does everyone keep pickin' on me?" Sam had been chosen.

"Right. You will have to make your way up the volcano using this passage," Misstar said to Sam, indicating the spiralling passage, and then she turned to the rest of the party and said, "and everyone else, brace yourselves!"

Misstar then carried all the other members of the party out of Mt. Lavalava and back onto the beach of Lavalava Island.

"I hope Sam will be OK..." said Watt in a very scared voice. She had had a small crush on Sam since she had joined the party.


	51. Chapter 50

Sam Hammer had no time to think. In just seven minutes, Mt. Lavalava was going to erupt. He had to make his way up the volcano, and quickly.

"Right. No loiterin'. I've gotta run!" he said to himself, and then he darted up the thin passageway that spiralled up the volcano. The rumbling made parts of it crumble away.

As the lava climbed up the vent of the volcano, Sam climbed higher still. His speed and stamina were paying off well in this heated situation. But, a piece of rock slipped out from under Sam's foot and he fell down, barely managing to get hold of the rock that was still attached. He began to pull himself up, but he couldn't get a good grip, as the rock was quite smooth.

"AH, ARE YOU GOING TO DIE?" asked the Lava Piranha, who had been coming up with the lava.

"Well, um, I don't know yet... I need to get out this volcano before I get roasted." replied Sam. The Lava Piranha coiled up and went over to him.

"SO," it said, "WHAT WILL YOU GIVE ME IF I HELP YOU?"

"I won't give you any more trouble. I'll leave you in peace with Mt. Lavalava and the whole of Lavalava Island." Sam said in reply. The Lava Piranha gave a laugh, not a very nice laugh, but a laugh.

"NO. I WANT MORE THAN PEACE AND QUIET. I WANT... YOU." Sam was a little shocked.

"Huh? What do you mean?" he asked.

"I MEAN, IF I RESCUE YOU, I WANT YOU TO STAY WITH ME."

"But, I can't do that... I'm helpin' Mario defeat Bowser."

"FINE. BUT I AM IN A GOOD MOOD, SO I WILL HELP YOU ANYWAY. CLIMB ONTO MY HEAD." said the Lava Piranha, and so Sam dropped down onto its head. The lava rose further up the volcano, and it was inches away from leaking out the top.

"HERE. IT WILL BE A ROUGH LANDING. I NEED TO THROW YOU ONTO THE BEACH." the Lava Piranha explained, and then it popped out the volcano and swung its head. Sam was immediately flung off, and he was sent head-first into the sand on the beach. Spluttering, he picked himself up and brushed himself down.

"Well-a... you're-a OK." said Mario.

"Phew! I thought you were done for." sighed Watt.

Misstar had already given Mario her Power, Smooch, which recovers major injuries for one party member. She had then left for Star Haven.

"We should discuss the location of the next Star Spirit." Black snarled, and then the party went back to Toad Town.


	52. Chapter 51

Mario and Co. had finally made it back to Toad Town after one of the most insane adventures they had been on so far. They had not had this much to deal with. They hadn't had to deal with erupting volcanoes, brainwashed Ravens and tangled jungly messes ever since Mario had received that letter from Princess Peach at the very start of his adventure.

"Well, that was fabulous! Adventures are so much fun! I'm going to have to go now. The husband will probably want to know about it." said Lydia, and then she left, after the party had said goodbye to her.

"Five Star Spirits down, two to go. Where's the next one gonna be?" Sam said to the party after Lydia had left.

"Hmm... you guys looking for Star Spirits?" said a familiar voice. Some of the party members had heard this voice when they were rescuing Eldstar (the first Star Spirit Mario and Co. rescued, and that was when Goombario and Duncan Mitchell were still with the party), and those party members were Sam, Kooper and Spiky Joe.

"Yep, we are." Spiky Dagbert said.

"Well have I got news for you! I've found out where that pesky Star Spirit is. And I'll tell you!"

"Who-a is that?" Mario asked. The party turned to face the person who had spoken.

"Aw, come on! You guys remember me, Red, don't you?" Red said.

"Have you come to help us?" Black snarled.

"Of course, Black! And I also came to check on you." Red turned to Mario.

"He has been helping you, right?" Mario said that he had, and then Red explained that the other members of the Koopa Bros. had been trying to help pinpoint a Star Spirit so that it would save some time - after all, Bowser needs to get his just reward quickly.

"That's-a great! So-a... will you-a tell us where it is?" Mario asked. Red replied that this was the sort of thing best discussed in private, so he reckoned that the party should go to the Koopa Bros. Fortress.

"Makes sense. After all, you don't know if Bowser's cronies are listenin'." Sam said, and so the party and Red set off for the Koopa Bros. Fortress. I regret to say this, but Sam is right about the fact that Bowser's cronies were eavesdropping...

Because, just around the corner...

"I'll get that Star Spirit!" Spiky Alison had been eavesdropping. She then headed for the Koopa Bros. Fortress so that she could find out the location of that Star Spirit and snatch it before Mario and Co. did. This was quite a large task to take on, especially for a lone Koopatrol. Spiky Alison knew she would have to be stealthy and quick.


	53. Chapter 52

Mario and Co. were setting out along Pleasure Path to the Koopa Bros. Fortress. Red of the Koopa Bros. had told them that he and the other two Koopa Bros. knew something about the sixth Star Spirit.

Upon reaching the large wooden door of the fortress, Mario knocked on it and waited. Red opened the door and told Mario and Co. to come in.

"OK, so as you've probably already heard, we've found out where that next Star Spirit is. I've fixed up a few things to help you." Red explained as the party entered the fortress. Inside, Green and Yellow were waiting.

"Well, help yourselves to drinks and snacks." Green said, indicating a beautifully laid out mini-buffet. The party each grabbed something, since they hadn't eaten for some time. No-one seemed to notice Spiky Alison sneaking inside the fortress.

"Righty-o! Well, myself, Green and Red did some searching to help you. After all, it's the least we could do." Yellow said. Green then explained some of their findings.

"OK, so... I tracked the Star Spirit right down to Flower Fields, a land filled with flowers and the heavenly scent of the blossoms. Yellow found out that the Star Spirit is imprisoned by a huge cloud monster called Huff N. Puff. Red looked into some of the obstacles you'll have to overcome. But still, even with our help, there's still some parts you'll have to do on your own."

"So that's the catch. There's ALWAYS a catch." Sam said with a hint of sourness to his tone. Red then explained that he had a few things to help the party.

"Right, so I've made a little booklet explaining some of the most dangerous obstacles you'll face, and also outlining a few of the others."

"That's-a brilliant! But-a... are you sure this is-a gonna work? I mean..." Mario said doubtfully, but Red cleared his doubts.

"Yes! I actually journeyed up to Flower Fields to find this information. I would've rescued the Star Spirit, too... but I couldn't find Huff N. Puff anywhere. The rumours are that he's way, way up in the sky."

"But, uh... how do we get to Flower Fields?" asked Spiky Dagbert. Green explained that there used to be a way into it from Toad Town, but it was closed after a nasty incident which caused the 'Bub-ulb Uprising' (which happened 30 years ago, where the Bub-ulbs, the flowery residents of Flower Fields, tried to turn Toad Town into a flowery jungle. They were sick of seeing bare grass).

"Underneath this fortress, there is a dark passageway. At the very end, there is a way into Flower Fields." Green said.

"Any secret codes needed to go down there?" Kooper asked, but Green silenced him almost immediately, saying that all they need to do is go down to the fortress basement and find a door labelled 'Flower Fields Entry Way'.

"Thanks. Now... let's-a go!" Mario shouted to the party, and then they set off for the door that Green had mentioned.

But, just then...

"Perfect!" Spiky Alison hissed to herself, and then she ran stealthily past the group and down to the fortress basement to try and beat Mario to the Star Spirit.


	54. Chapter 53

_For one chapter, we leave the antics of Mario and his party. Now, just what on earth is Spiky Alison up to?_

"Ha ha ha! Mario and his puny gang will have no hope now. I will get the Star Spirit before he does!" Spiky Alison laughed to herself as she stepped through the entrance into Flower Fields.

Spiky Alison, one of the Mushroom Kingdom's most stealthy Koopatrols, had gone to help Lord Bowser trounce Mario, and she was going to do this by getting her hands on one of the Star Spirits. She had tried to stop Mario in Gusty Gulch, but that hadn't gone to plan. Spiky Joe had stopped him falling for it.

After some very sickening swirling, Spiky Alison was finally in Flower Fields. She was amazed at the beauty of the place (even if she acts all hard, she's still a girly girl). She sniffed the sweet flowery air and felt as though she could stay here for the rest of her life. But no, she couldn't. Her mission comes first.

Rather tired from her travel to Flower Fields all the way from Bowser's Castle, she sat down under a tree to rest. To her surprise, the tree started talking.

"Good morning, miss. I am the Wise Wisterwood. What are you here for?" Spiky Alison couldn't just say she was here to snatch a Star Spirit to help with Bowser's evil plan, so she had to rephrase it in some way.

"Morning, Wise Wisterwood. I'm Spiky Alison. I've come to get the Star Spirit hidden within this land." she said, hoping that the Wise Wisterwood wouldn't ask any more questions regarding the Star Spirit, but he did.

"What would you need our Star Spirit for?" he asked.

"I need it to help keep the peace in the world. Bowser is at large again." she replied, almost choking on her words. She didn't want to speak of Lord Bowser in that way, but it was so that the Wise Wisterwood might tell her where the Star Spirit is.

"The Star Spirit is high up in the sky, in a place called the Cloudy Climb. You cannot possibly hope to reach it now." the Wise Wisterwood explained.

"What would I need to do to get up there?" asked Spiky Alison.

"What you will need to do," replied the Wise Wisterwood, "you will have to get some Fertile Soil, a Magical Bean and some Miracle Water. That way, you can grow a beanstalk high enough to reach the Cloudy Climb."

"Forget 'Jack and the Beanstalk', it's 'Spiky Alison and the Beanstalk' that everyone should be reading!" Spiky Alison joked.

"Ho ho ho ho ho! Yes, indeed... but you must also part the clouds in the sky. The sun hasn't bothered to rise due to this infernal cloud cover. Plants cannot thrive without the sun, and if the sun isn't restored soon, all the beautiful plants of Flower Fields will wither and die." said the Wise Wisterwood. Spiky Alison was filled with pity for the whole of Flower Fields. She had seen its beauty, and she didn't want to see it all die like that. She agreed to dispel the clouds from the land, and so she was off.

Whilst trudging through the thick carpet of flowers to find a Magical Bean, Spiky Alison met up with a swarm of bees. They were pollinating the flowers, but they weren't too happy with the way she was walking through them. She had no choice - there were no footpaths. The bees didn't understand, so they began to buzz round her and tried to sting her. Holding tightly onto her helmet, Spiky Alison broke into a run. She ran as fast as she could, and she bumped into a large talking flower.

"Good heavens! I'm so sorry. Are you OK?" Spiky Alison said.

"Don't worry about it. I am firmly rooted into the ground. I am Petunia. Nice to meet you!" said Petunia.

"Hi Petunia, I am Spiky Alison. Do you happen to have a Magical Bean?"

"Why, yes! What do you need it for?"

"I need it to reach the Cloudy Climb, to get a Star Spirit. I am trying to uphold peace in the world." After Spiky Alison had finished speaking, Petunia gave her a Magical Bean. She was very willing to donate her seed collection for a good cause. Thanking Petunia, Spiky Alison took the Bean and headed back to the Wise Wisterwood.

"Very good, Spiky Alison. Now, you just need the Miracle Water and the Fertile Soil. Hurry now. And you also need to part these clouds." said the Wise Wisterwood, and so Spiky Alison went on her way again.

She began ambling along a thin winding path through the flowers. A Crazee Dayzee came out from behind a tree, and started singing. Spiky Alison was intrigued, so she listened more. It wasn't long before she began to feel sleepy.

Before she fell asleep, she shook her head. She now knew that those Crazee Dayzees sung _lullabies_! She had no time to sleep. It wouldn't be long before Mario and Co. were hot on her trail. She had to find that Star Spirit, and quickly.

After running from a huge flock of Crazee Dayzees, Spiky Alison reached yet another talking flower. She introduced herself.

"Good day. I am Spiky Alison, and I must rescue the Star Spirit here to uphold world peace." she explained. The flower replied,

"Wonderful. I am Freesia, one of the healthiest of flowers. Look at those petals!" Freesia boasted, flicking her petals adoringly.

"I can see that," Spiky Alison said sourly, "but I'm not here to admire beauty. I am here on a mission for peace. That Fertile Soil you are in... may I have a clod of it?"

"What...?" Freesia said, shocked.

"I need a small amount of your Fertile Soil to get up to the Cloudy Climb." Spiky Alison explained.

"But..."

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then." Spiky Alison said, and then she took a clod of the Fertile Soil and put it into a small polythene bag. Whilst Freesia screamed 'THIEF!', Spiky Alison sprinted back to the Wise Wisterwood with the Fertile Soil in tow.

"Wise Wisterwood," Spiky Alison said, "I want to dispel these clouds. Where are they being made?" The Wise Wisterwood explained that there was a big Huff Puff Machine to the north of here, and that's where all those infernal clouds were coming from. Thanking the Wise Wisterwood, Spiky Alison headed for the north to shut off that horrible Huff Puff Machine.

After walking throgh a huge carpet of pale-coloured flowers, dodging Crazee Dayzees and battling swarms of bees, Spiky Alison finally made it to the location of the dreadful Huff Puff Machine. As she got closer to it, she could hear voices.

"Cloud, cloud and more cloud. CLOUDS ARE GO!" the voice of a Lakitu shouted. Now, for information's sake, a Lakitu is a Koopa Troopa sub-species. They fly around on a cloud and can throw Spiny Eggs, which hatch into Spinies (which are about half the size of a Koopa Troopa, and have spikes on their shells). They have been known to have other roles, too, such as helping out in go-kart races and working as part-time cameramen and cheerleaders.

"Yes, yes! Up the cloud! Mwee hee hee hee!" a Magikoopa laughed. Just like Lakitus, Magikoopas are another Koopa Troopa sub-species. They are Koopas that cast magic spells (hence the name). They have no other known roles besides working for Bowser.

"Oh yeah, man, look at that cloud GO! Clouds rock." another Lakitu shouted in delight.

"Ahem!" Spiky Alison said firmly. Both Lakitus and the Magikoopa turned to face her.

"Ah, Spiky Alison! How're things, man?" one Lakitu asked.

"Do you have to, Master Laki... I mean, you're killing the flowers!" Spiky Alison screamed.

"Whoa, Spiky Alison... we didn't know you were all girly. Well, wait 'til Bowser hears this! Hey, Phyllis, you got any tricks?" Master Laki shouted. He turned to the Magikoopa.

"No, sorry..." Phyllis said sadly.

"Quiet, Laki! If we keep shouting, man... Bowser'll be on us!" the other Lakitu yelled.

"Lakilester, will you shut your cakehole!" Master Laki yelled.

"It's Spike, you idiot!" Lakilester snapped.

"You two! Shut up! Listen, you're starving the flowers of their sunlight. You have to turn that awful machine off!" Spiky Alison screeched. Master Laki and Lakilester went over to a corner and discussed something rather secret. Phyllis came over to her.

"Well," Phyllis explained, "on Bowser's orders, we are keeping Flower Fields drenched in cloud. Tough luck if you don't like it, Spiky Alison. We're following orders."

"I don't care!" Spiky Alison wailed. Phyllis tried to explain the situation to her, but she wouldn't have it. Oh no. She began to lose it completely.

"You either turn off that machine now," she screamed, "or I'll give you a beating that you'll regret for the rest of your puny lives!"

"Psst! Laki! Spike! This girl wants us to beat her good." Phyllis hissed to Master Laki and Lakilester. The two Lakitus came over to Phyllis and then all three of them turned and faced Spiky Alison.

"Fine. If you don't want to turn off that dreadful machine, I'll have to make you turn it off by force!" Spiky Alison yelled, and then she took out a small sword with a wickedly sharp edge. Phyllis readied her wand, whilst Master Laki and Lakilester took out a Spiny Egg each.

"Let's brawl!" shouted Master Laki, and then he threw his Spiny Egg at Spiky Alison. She chopped it cleanly in half. Master Laki was amazed, and so was Lakilester.

"I've never seen such a feisty female fighter!" gasped Lakilester.

"I've never seen a woman chop a Spiny Egg in mid-flight like that!" said Master Laki in an amazed voice.

"Enough amazement," Phyllis sneered, "wait until you see THIS!" She waved her wand and threw a ball of magical fire at Spiky Alison. It hit her squarely in the chest, catapulting her back towards a nearby tree. Master Laki and Lakilester weren't very impressed.

"Wow, we've seen that, like, umpteen times before." groaned Master Laki.

Lakilester added, "Yeah, man... that's just so not cool." Phyllis scowled.

Spiky Alison got up, readied her blade, and ran up to Phyllis. She swung the blade savagely, cutting Phyllis' right leg off. She swung again and contacted Phyllis' heart, cutting her life rather short as she did so.

"Whoa!" gasped Lakilester. He told Master Laki that they should turn off the machine, and so they did. Spiky Alison then destroyed it so that it couldn't be used again.

"Great stuff, Spiky Alison. You rule, man. Now go and show Huff N. Puff who's the best!" Master Laki said as pep talk, and then Spiky Alison darted back to the Wise Wisterwood.

"Look!" said the Wise Wisterwood, shaking his leaves at the sky.

"It's... beautiful." said Spiky Alison, amazed. She could feel the relaxing warmth of the sun on her face. However, she didn't have time to sunbathe. She had to get the Star Spirit before Mario did, and she wasn't sure how much time she had left.

"Now, you still need some Miracle Water. Hurry and find it." the Wise Wisterwood said, and then Spiky Alison headed off yet again.

This time, she was walking along a wide path surrounded by many bright flowers. If she had been here for a leisurely visit, she would have stopped to smell them and drink in their beauty, but she couldn't. She was on a mission to help Bowser stop Mario. When she stopped, there was a huge tangled mess of spiky branches in front of her. She couldn't possibly walk along those. A voice called out,

"Come here! I'll help you!"

"Who are you? I'm Spiky Alison." said Spiky Alison.

"I'm Bubble Plant! I'll make a bubble that you can use to get across this spiky mess." explained Bubble Plant, and then he blew a huge bubble, large enough to take Spiky Alison. She stepped inside the bubble, and a huge gust of wind blew the bubble - and Spiky Alison - across the spiky mess and over the other side.

As soon as the bubble reached the other side, it burst, dropping Spiky Alison to the floor. She picked herself up and went on her way. Eventually, she came to a huge pool of crystal clear water with a large lily floating in it.

"Hello, I am Spiky Alison. I'm here to rescue a Star Spirit. It is for world peace." said Spiky Alison.

"Ah, well, Spiky Alison... I am Lily. You must be here for some of my Miracle Water. Take some." Lily said, and she pushed a large watering can towards Spiky Alison. She filled it to the brim with Miracle Water, and then she went back to the Wise Wisterwood, negotiating the tangled spiky mess as she did so.

"Well done," said the Wise Wisterwood when Spiky Alison got back to him, "you have gathered all of the necessary items to grow a beanstalk. First, lay down the Fertile Soil." Spiky Alison took out the polythene bag of Fertile Soil and emptied it onto the ground.

"Now, plant the Magical Bean in the soil." Spiky Alison took out the Magical Bean and placed it into the soil, packing it down after she had planted it (in her spare time, she does gardening, so she knows what she's doing most of the time).

"Finally, sprinkle some of the Miracle Water onto it." Spiky Alison then took hold of the watering can and watered the Magical Bean with the Miracle Water. There was a slight rumble in the ground as the beanstalk rose from the soil and shot up towards the clouds.

"Now, you may reach the Cloudy Climb." the Wise Wisterwood said, and then Spiky Alison grabbed hold of the beanstalk and began to climb up it.

After fifteen exhausting minutes, Spiky Alison finally reached the top. She was now in the Cloudy Climb, where Huff N. Puff was located. She trudged along the cloud path, kicking up bits of cloud as she advanced.

"Who dares walk on my clouds?" It was the thundering voice of Huff N. Puff!

"It is I, Spiky Alison." Spiky Alison replied.

"What do you want, Spiky Alison?" Huff N. Puff asked gruffly.

"Your Star Spirit. Hand it over, now!" she screamed. Huff N. Puff didn't take too kindly to being treated like that, so he sucked in a huge breath and blew Spiky Alison to the floor. Straight after, she picked herself up and leapt at Huff N. Puff, knocking him into the cloud that was the floor.

"Noooooo! This can't be!" Huff N. Puff yelled, just before disappearing into the clouds. As he was a cloud himself, he just melted in with the other clouds and was defeated. A card appeared in front of Spiky Alison, and she picked it up.

"Yes! I have a Star Spirit!" she yelled in delight. She knew that Lord Bowser was going to be pleased with her for her brave exploit.


	55. Chapter 54

"Finally. We're here." Sam Hammer said as the party saw carpets of many coloured flowers stretching for miles in front of them. They were now in Flower Fields.

"Let's-a go and find-a that Star Spirit." said Mario as they walked over to the Wise Wisterwood.

"Good day to you, Mario. I am the Wise Wisterwood. What are you here for?" asked the Wise Wisterwood.

"Well-a," Mario explained, "we're-a here for the Star Spirit hidden here in this-a land." The Wise Wisterwood said that they were too late - a female Koopatrol named Spiky Alison had beat them to it.

"WHAT? SAY THAT AGAIN!" Sam shouted at the Wise Wisterwood.

"You see, Spiky Alison came here to rescue that Star Spirit for world peace." the Wise Wisterwood explained for the second time.

"What, so you let her get it? You know, she's workin' for Bowser. You just helped the baddies, you idiot! You *BEEP*ing plank!" Sam roared with an almost passionate rage. The Wise Wisterwood apologised, and said that he didn't realise that he had fallen for a trick.

"OK, so where is Spiky Alison now?" asked Kooper in a rather scared whimper. After all, when Sam Hammer has just had a bout of shouting, it's bound to scare nearby people, friend or foe. The Wise Wisterwood said that she had gone to the top of Cloudy Climb to defeat Huff N. Puff. Just after the Wise Wisterwood had finished speaking, two Lakitus came zooming towards Mario. They were Lakilester and Master Laki.

"Mario! Mario! We kinda realised that Spiky Alison was up to no good, and we didn't do much to stop her. Please, you gotta let me join you!" said Master Laki, panting.

"Yeah, man... and my girlfriend Lakilulu will kill me if she finds out..." whimpered Lakilester. Mario brushed his bushy moustache in thought, and then he said,

"Well-a... OK. But-a no funny business, or-a my good friend Sam here will smash you with a sledgehammer." Mario said in a firm voice (or as firm as he could manage with his jokey Italian accent). Master Laki and Lakilester accepted the threat, and then they introduced themselves. The rest of the party also introduced themselves.

"Alright! Now, what should we do?" asked Spiky Dagbert.

"Simple enough," Black snarled, "we go up that beanstalk to the Cloudy Climb, and beat Spiky Alison senseless. Easy!"

"Black's right. Let's get goin'." Sam said, and so Mario and Co., along with new members Master Laki and Lakilester, began to climb up the beanstalk towards Cloudy Climb.

Fifteen minutes later, they were all at the top. They quickly discussed a few tactics, and then they made their way further up the Cloudy Climb. There, who should they meet but... Spiky Alison!

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha HA! I beat you, Mario!" Spiky Alison said in a rather schoolgirly voice, blowing a raspberry as she said that. Sam stepped in front of Mario and said,

"Now be a good little girl and hand over that Star Spirit."

"No." said Spiky Alison coolly.

"NOW!" retorted Sam. Still, Spiky Alison wouldn't hand over the Star Spirit.

"Oh, Sam Hammer... I do remember you. You always bossed around the other armies as well as your own. I take it you got bored and decided to lower your status, hmm?" Spiky Alison asked in a rather sour tone. Sam was deeply insulted by the comment she had made about him 'lowering his status'.

"No, Spiky Alison. You don't understand. I left Bowser because I had found out that he wanted to destroy the world, and put a worse one in its place. I couldn't be a part of that. So really, I've got more status than an idiot tinhead like YOU!" Sam shouted. Even that didn't alleviate the hurt caused by Spiky Alison's insult. But at least it was Spiky Alison's turn to feel insulted, thanks to Sam's 'tinhead' comment.

"How dare you! How very dare you insult a proud Koopatrol like myself! Sam, since you left Lord Bowser, you have no right to call me!" Spiky Alison screeched, her rage heating up.

"HEY! Don't tell me what my rights are! I KNOW what they are, and you don't have any right to tell me what I can and can't do, so shove off already!" Sam yelled, his rage also heating up. The combined rage of Spiky Alison and Sam was hot enough to fry an egg with.

"Um, look, you left the best Koopa king in the world to hang out with a low-level plumber! So maybe YOU made a mistake, Mr. Hammer." shouted a rather furious Spiky Alison.

"Still your tongue, Alison Lindenberg! You have no right to insult Mario like that!" Sam retorted, adding insult to injury (he used Spiky Alison's full name). Spiky Alison stood with her mouth open. She didn't know that Sam still knew her full name!

"Hey, you shouldn't do that! Using a woman's full name in front of strangers is just inconsiderate!" screamed Spiky Alison.

"Don't care. I'm not feelin' good enough to give you any consideration, Alison." Sam replied coolly, despite the fact that he was absolutely raging inside.

"That's Spiky Alison to you!" screamed Spiky Alison in a passion of rage. Black decided, after that last bout of shouting from Spiky Alison, that he would help Sam to get this over and done with.

"Silence yourself, Spiky Alison." Black said in a rather low, intimidating voice.

"Hey, you don't have any right to tell me what..." Spiky Alison began, but Black cut her short.

"Shut up and listen. Do you realise that what you have done is wrong? Taking the Star Spirit to help Bowser... PAH! I spit in your face. Although you did save us some time. Now we just have to get the Star Spirit out of you." Black snarled in an even darker tone.

"Not so fast! I won't be handing over the Star Spirit so easily!" shouted Spiky Alison.

"We'll see about that!" Watt shouted, and then she touched Spiky Alison. About 12 volts of electricity shot through her. Spiky Alison yelped.

"Ouch!" she screamed. Watt chortled, and so did the rest of the party.

"Now do you realise the severity of your mistake, Spiky Alison?" Black snarled, this time in one of his most inhuman, sinister tones yet. Spiky Alison was instilled with fear, just as Black had hoped. She took a card from a secret compartment with a trembling hand.

"Here... take it." Spiky Alison said fearfully, and she handed the card to Black, who then gave it to Mario. It swirled above his hands and turned into the Star Spirit Klevar. He gave Mario his Power, Time Out (which stops time - and enemies), and then departed for Star Haven.

"So, what do we do with this object?" Sam asked, indicating Spiky Alison.

"Throw her off this cloud." came Black's snarly answer. And with that, Sam, Spiky Dagbert and Black picked up Spiky Alison and threw her off the Cloudy Climb. She let out a large scream as she fell.

"Let's head back to Toad Town." Lady Bow suggested, and then the party headed back for Toad Town. Of the two Lakitus, Master Laki and Lakilester, only Master Laki had gone back with Mario and Co., and Lakilester stayed behind.

But, what Mario and Co. didn't realise was that the fall hadn't proved fatal for Spiky Alison... She picked herself up and went back to Bowser's Castle.


	56. Chapter 55

Mario and Co. had returned to Toad Town after their exploit with Spiky Alison in Flower Fields. Now, there was only one Star Spirit left to find.

"Right, everyone. That's six Star Spirits down, one to go. Where should we be lookin'?" Sam said to the party as they sat down in their usual spot.

"Star Spirits? Six of them down? What on earth does all this mean, man?" Master Laki asked. No-one had explained it to him, so Mario quickly explained the situation, cutting out as much of the gobbledigook as possible.

A few minutes after, a tourist wearing a Crystal Palace football strip came over to them.

"Hey! I'm a scouting football fan. Crystal Palace want a match against a team not in the leagues, and you lot look perfect for the job." she said excitedly.

"OK, so what would we get if we took them on and won?" asked Kooper.

"You would get the Star Spirit Cup!" she yelled. Sam quickly whispered to Mario,

"We're gonna enter. Without a doubt, this is the Star Spirit we're lookin' for. What do you say, Mario?" Mario replied that they would all enter, but the tourist said that Lady Bow and Watt couldn't enter for their lack of feet. She also doubted that Master Laki could enter, but he jumped off his cloud and showed that he had a pair of legs. She looked at Parakarry, as if to say he couldn't fly during the match, but she turned back to Mario.

"Right, who's the team captain?" she asked. The rest of the party elected Mario and Sam, and then it was between those two. Sam won with six votes to four (Lady Bow, Black, Parakarry, Spiky Dagbert, Mario and Watt had voted for him, Spiky Joe, Kooper, Master Laki and Sam had voted for Mario).

"OK. But you only have 8 players. A normal football team has 11. You'll have to find three more players." the tourist said sadly.

"Who's gonna be lookin' for players?" asked Sam.

"As you're team captain, you should look for them." the tourist said in reply.

And so it was settled. Sam would go all over the Mushroom Kingdom to look for three suitable football players whilst the rest of the party wait anxiously for his return...


	57. Chapter 56

"You WHAAT? You're saying that Mario walked all over you?" Bowser roared as Spiky Alison told him of her defeat for the sixth time. He was absolutely infuriated when he found out.

"Look, Lord Bowser... I tried to help with your master plan. At least I was brave enough to admit defeat in front of you." Spiky Alison whimpered. She couldn't help but feel upset and so deeply insulted, especially with what Sam Hammer had said about her.

"I understand, my loyal Koopatrol. Now, you look upset. This seems deeper than defeat. Any personal issues?" asked Bowser kindly. Even if he was all gruff on the outside, he still cared about the well-being of his armies (well, that's what he _wants_ you to think...).

"Nuh... no, Your Evilness... it was Sam Hammer. He insulted me." It took all of Spiky Alison's courage to say that.

"In what way?"

"He knew my full name, and shouted it in front of total strangers. Not only that, but he called me a tinhead." Spiky Alison said, sobbing.

"NOT HIM AGAIN!" yelled Bowser, quite scaring Spiky Alison in the process. She sat down on a nearby chair and cried bitterly.

"I am completely SICK AND TIRED of hearing about that lout. He gets everywhere, he does. The sooner he's wiped off the world, the better." said Bowser gruffly.

"You're right, Your Smelliness. What should I do?" asked Spiky Alison, still trying to right herself. Bowser told her that she deserves a nice hot bath and some beauty sleep. And so, Spiky Alison went to the bathroom so that she could have her hot bath. After she had left the room, Bowser rubbed his hands together greedily.

"My master plan is almost complete. Mario has no hope, and neither does that pilfering idiot Sam Hammer. Gwaa ha ha ha ha ha!" roared Bowser, and then he resumed thinking over how to complete his master plan.


	58. Chapter 57

Sam Hammer had gone off to Koopa Village. Not for a leisurely visit, but to find some good players for his football team. He saw a group of three Koopas kicking a ball around. Perfect, Sam thought.

"Hey, you guys are lookin' good. Care to join a football team?" asked Sam. One of the Koopas turned towards the other two.

"Look," he whispered, "Jet, Van Dark... this sounds cool. We should take him on."

"Yeah, good idea." mumbled Jet.

"Indeedy-do, Dunk." murmured Van Dark.

"So, are you gonna be joinin' or have I come for nothin'?" asked Sam. All three Koopas turned to face him. Sam saw that one of them was one that he recognised. That pink helmet... that pink ribbon... that purple shell... those pink boots... it was the unmistakeable guise of Duncan Mitchell!

"OK, first of all, we owe you an intro. I'm Alistair Masterton, that's Dick Van Dark and here is our newest member, Duncan Mitchell." said Jet.

"So, Alistair..."

"Call me Jet."

"OK, Jet... I know Mitch right there. He used to be with Mario's gang, but he got kicked out because he was an idiot." Sam said bitterly. Jet looked shocked.

"Well, I still owe you all an introduction. I'm Sam Hammer. I used to lead the Hammer Army, but I left after findin' out that Bowser was an idiot with very little brain." Sam said. Dick Van Dark stepped up towards him.

"So, this whole football team thing... are you making a football team from scratch?" he asked.

"Yeah. We'll be takin' on Crystal Palace."

"What? Crystal Palace! But I thought... no..." Duncan exclaimed. He had been fairly quiet up to this point. Sam looked at him sternly.

"I didn't say you were comin', Duncan Disorderly. I can't possibly be takin' you, because, like I said, you're an idiot." he said in a firm, low tone. Duncan stepped back slightly.

"So, does that mean we can't come?" sobbed Jet, thinking that hanging around with Duncan would have made Sam reject him and Van Dark too. Sam began to speak.

"No, of course not. Jet, you and Dick can come with me," Sam then turned to Duncan, "and you, Mitch... you're not comin'. You can stay here. I can't be wastin' my time with idiots."

"So, it's settled then, Sam! We come and help you beat Crystal Palace, right?" asked Van Dark.

"Not yet, Van Dark. We're one player short, so we have to find another good player. You got any ideas?" replied Sam.

"Sorry mate..." Van Dark said sadly. Sam told him not to worry. He was planning to make a trek to Dry Dry Outpost, as he thought that there would be some possible players with good endurance (well, with Dry Dry Desert being so hot, there's bound to be someone who can run around for ages without breaking the proverbial sweat).

Jet asked Sam, "Where will we find another player?"

"We're goin' to Dry Dry Outpost to find our next good player. My theory is that these guys will be able to run around for ages without breakin' a sweat. After all, they live in a desert town." came Sam's reply.

"Let's do this, dude!" Van Dark shouted, and then the threesome set out to Dry Dry Outpost.


	59. Chapter 58

"So here we are. Dry Dry Outpost." Sam said, after 45 minutes on the Dry Dry Railway, a 2-hour climb up Mt. Rugged and a 40-minute trek through Dry Dry Desert. Dick Van Dark wasn't too happy. He had never done this sort of trekking before.

"Sam, how could you? I'm soaked through with sweat! Gee, you've really made my day." he complained. Sam told him to shut up and look for some possible football players. Eventually, they come up to the Wet Wet Pub, situated on the far eastern end of Dry Dry Outpost. The threesome decide that they will go inside.

"OK, who's up to play a game of FOOTBALL against Crystal Palace?" Sam yelled to everyone after he, Jet and Van Dark went inside. Only three of the people showed any interest.

"Listen up! I'm makin' a football team from scratch. We're gonna take on Crystal Palace and win the Star Spirit Cup." Sam half-explained, half-shouted. Another five people showed some slight interest.

"Free drink for those who wanna do it!" Sam yelled, and then everyone jumped out of their seats and made an almighty racket. They were all scrounging for a Sam Hammer handout!

"OK, maybe that wasn't such a good idea." Sam muttered to himself, then he spoke out again.

"Alright, I need one more player to complete my football team. The person I choose gets a free drink. The rest get a drink for half-price." Everyone still volunteered, so Sam decided that he would narrow it down.

"Right. Who plays football for a pastime or a local team?" he asked. Thirteen people put their hands in the air. Sam picked up thirteen straws, cut bits off some of them, concealed them and walked over to the thirteen who had put their hands up.

"Here we go. We'll draw lots. You'll each pick a straw, and whoever gets the longest comes with me to play against Crystal Palace. That way, it's fair." he said, and so each one picked a straw and measured them against the others' straws. One female voice calls out,

"I've got the longest!" Sam checked her straw to make sure she wasn't lying, and then he brings her over to the bar.

"Well done you, you've just won a free drink and the opportunity to play Crystal Palace. What's your name?" Sam asked, and then he turned to the bartender. He asked him to get a pint of beer.

"My name is Alison." she replies. Sam asks her for her last name. If it was Alison Lindenberg... he was going to be furious. She then tells him that her full name is Alison Lindenberg, exactly what Sam was NOT hoping for!

"Spiky Alison! What're you doin' here?" Sam asked in a horrified voice. She tries to calm him down.

"Look, Sam... I felt so horrible shouting at you like that. After all, we were firm friends back at the castle, right?" she says, looking rather upset. Sam still didn't understand why she was here.

"You're doin' this because you've got a grudge, right... and you're gonna lull me into a false sense of security and then BAM! Stabbed in the back." he said sourly.

"No... not at all, Sam... I feel so unjust, shouting at you like I did. But, like you, I found out the truth about Bowser." she said, almost on the verge of tears. She also added how on earth he didn't recognise her in her Koopatrol garb. He just replied that all Koopatrols wear the same armour, so it's hard to tell.

"But anyway, Spiky Alison... if you've really wiped the slate clean... then will you help me, Mario and the gang get the Star Spirit Cup?" Sam asked. Spiky Alison replied that she would. The bartender said that the beer was ready, so Sam picked it up and gave it to Spiky Alison.

"The free drink, as promised." he said to her, and then she sipped it, savouring each mouthful. She had never had beer before, and she was enjoying it.

"By the way, that's the only one you'll be gettin'. You can't be drunk for the match." Sam said to her. Spiky Alison then finished the beer and placed the glass on the bar. The bartender cleared it away. Sam turned to him.

"By the way, give everyone in here a drink for half-price." he said to the bartender, and so he began pouring out drinks for everyone in the pub and only asking for half of the price. Sam then turned back to Jet, Van Dark and Spiky Alison.

"Right. Let's get back to Mario and the gang. Spiky Alison, Van Dark, Jet... come with me!" said Sam, and then all four of them headed back to Toad Town to rejoin Mario and Co...


	60. Chapter 59

"Alright! So, we've-a got our team. What-a do we do now?" Mario said after Sam had returned with Jet, Van Dark and Spiky Alison.

"Hold it right there! Spiky Alison is here." snarled Black. Sam told him it was alright - Spiky Alison had put her wrongs behind her and was going to join Mario and Co..

"Right, guys... we should introduce ourselves to each other. I'm Spiky Alison - ex-evil." Spiky Alison announced proudly. The rest of the party, including Jet and Van Dark, also introduced themselves, and then Mario briefed Spiky Alison on what they were doing. She listened enthusiastically. The tourist who had told Mario and Co. about this came over.

"Right, now you have your team, you've now got to take on Crystal Palace. Do you all know how to play football?" she asked. Master Laki and Black didn't know how to play, so Sam said that he would teach them.

"OK, Master Laki, Black... welcome to Football Lesson 101, with your host, Sam Hammer! Uh, that's me. I'll be teachin' you the ins and outs of the game of football." Sam said to Master Laki and Black. They both giggled.

"No laughin'. If we want that Star Spirit Cup, you're gonna have to listen! Now, dead simple. All you gotta do is kick the ball around the pitch towards our goal (where the Crystal Palace goalkeeper is), then kick it in there." Sam explained. Master Laki kept on giggling.

"Shut up, Laki!" Black snapped.

"So, do you get that?" asked Sam. Black said that he didn't, but Master Laki said he did. Sam didn't look too convinced.

"Laki, you've been laughin'. You sure you got it?" Sam asked Master Laki. He said yes.

"Right, Black... you said you don't get it. Fair enough. All you gotta do is kick the ball around the pitch..." Black said he got that bit.

"...and then you have to get it up to our goal..." Black said he didn't get that bit. Sam explained it a little more clearly, and then Black got it.

"Got it now, Black?" asked Sam.

"Yes indeedy, Sir Hammer!" Black snarled jokily. Sam laughed, and then he reported back to Mario.

"Well-a... let's-a go!" he said, and then Mario and Co., along with Jet, Van Dark and Spiky Alison, went to the Crystal Palace football stadium to play for the Star Spirit Cup.


	61. Chapter 60

"Noooo! Stop!" Princess Peach screamed as three Koopatrols dragged her into a room in Bowser's Castle. The Koopatrols had been on a secret mission to get her back and try and cheer up Bowser.

"In there!" one of the Koopatrols shouted. The other two Koopatrols threw Peach into the room and marched off. The Koopatrol who had spoke popped his head into the room.

"Good day, Princess Peach. I'm going to look after you during your stay. My name is Spiky Pierre." came the kind, reassuring voice of Spiky Pierre. Peach asked him how he would look after her during her 'stay', if that was even the appropriate word for her situation.

"OK, I will guard the door to your room, preventing entry from perverts and the like. Also, if you wish to leave the room, you must knock on the door and say where you want to go, then I will escort you there. Oh, and if you want someone to talk to, there's always me!" Spiky Pierre explained cheerfully.

"But, uh... Spiky Pierre... why can't I have a member of the Hammer Army guarding me? They seem a lot more chatty and fun." Peach said sadly.

"You see, it's because Lord Bowser thinks they're... unstable. Like bombs about to go off. He thinks they're gonna cause a revolution." replied Spiky Pierre. Princess Peach had now found out where she was. She was in Bowser's Castle! Spiky Pierre then left the room, leaving Princess Peach on her own. She was in the same room that she was in when she had last been kidnapped. She remembered a secret passage leading out of the room (which she WAS going to use, until Sam Hammer and Duncan Mitchell rescued her), but she had to distract Spiky Pierre in some way. She knocked on the door to attract Spiky Pierre's attention.

"Spiky Pierre? May I ask something?" Peach said in her sweetest voice. Spiky Pierre came into the room with a smile on his face.

"Certainly, Princess. Out with it." he said, and then the princess told him that she wanted a glass of champagne brought up to her.

"Right away, Princess!" Spiky Pierre said in acknowledgement, and then he bounded off to the wine store.

Meanwhile, Princess Peach lifted away one of the portraits and pressed a button. She then replaced the portrait, and the fireplace had turned into a secret passageway. Wasting no time, Peach ran through it, only stopping to press another button to make another door appear among a shelf of books in the huge library.

The library in Bowser's Castle was huge, and very cosy. Long rows of bookcases lined the walls and there were some standing further in the room. Cosy chairs and couches were laid out neatly, as well as some huge brass reading lamps on tables. There were a few Koopatrols and members of the Hammer Army here, but they were too busy reading to take much notice of her... or were they?

Being as quiet as she could, Peach tiptoed out from the cubby-hole she was in, and kept herself hidden between shelves of books. But, she tripped on a rug and was sent flying. She knocked over a shelf of children's books, which fell on her like a rainstorm of hardback books. Two members of the Hammer Army went over to see the commotion.

"Whoa! Who's just tipped our books?" one asked, shocked.

"Quiet, Stevie. Look. It's moving." the other said.

"Brrrrr... a ghost? No, it can't be, Christina." Stevie whimpered.

"Oh yeah, and it's Chris, not Christina!" Chris snapped, slapping Stevie across the face. When the twosome got there and put the books back on the shelf, they were surprised who was hiding underneath.

"Princess Peach! What the...? You're not meant to be out here unless Spiky Pierre is with you!" yelled Chris, hastily stacking three books on the top shelf of the bookcase that Peach had knocked over.

"PRINCESS PEACH HAS ESCAPED FROM HER ROOM! SPIKY PIERRE, GET YOUR SHELL DOWN HERE!" Chris screamed at the top of her voice. Spiky Pierre came running.

"Chris, keep your voice down! You'll wake the dead!" he shouted, and then he turned to Princess Peach.

"Look, Princess... you shouldn't be here without me. I'm going to have to take you back to the room." he said, and then he took Princess Peach by the arm and led her back to her room in a rather friendly way.


	62. Chapter 61

"I decided to call the team 'Super Smashers'. That's OK with you lot?" Sam asked as he assembled his team on the pitch. They then took their positions on the pitch and eagerly awaited the arrival of their rivals, Crystal Palace.

"Hello, and welcome to the Star Spirit Cup Competition! I'm your host and commentator, Jake Anderton! But you can all call me Spiky Jake." said Spiky Jake over the tannoy system. It looked like Lord Bowser had elected him to be the commentator.

"Playing at home, it's Crystal Palace! Challenging them is the Super Smashers!" Spiky Jake said as the Crystal Palace team assembled on the pitch. Several minutes after, a whistle was blown. That was the kick-off.

"Alright, so the Super Smashers take the ball. Hammer in possession. Look at that Koopa go!" Spiky Jake said as Sam took the ball and began to dribble it towards his goal. He then passed the ball to Mario.

"Hammer to Mario, oh... back to Hammer. Almost got tackled by Scowcroft there." After Mario had received the pass, he passed it back to Sam, only for him to have to evade a tackle from James Scowcroft, a striker for Crystal Palace.

"Passing again... Hammer to Lindenberg... what a beauty she is." Sam had passed the ball to Spiky Alison, as James Scowcroft was heading to tackle him again.

"Gone back to Hammer, now he's in the shooting zone. He shoots..." There was suspense as Sam booted the ball into the net, thinking it would get caught by David Wilkinson (the goalkeeper for Crystal Palace), when...

"HE SCORES!" Spiky Jake shouted, and then there was massive celebration as Sam was hugged and jumped on by his fellow team members. The crowd cheered wildly, and then the play resumed.

"Crystal Palace in possession. Lawrence with the ball, now passing to Scowcroft, oh... tackled by Black, now Super Smashers in possession." Matthew Lawrence had got the ball, then passed it to James Scowcroft, who subsequently got tackled by Black.

"Black still in possession. Passing to Laki, oh... almost tackled by Hill!" Black had passed to Master Laki, who had almost got tackled by Clint Hill, a Crystal Palace defender.

It was another 10 minutes before one of the teams even got near to their goal. Already, the Crystal Palace members were beginning to show signs of fatigue. Their opponents had had them running around like headless chickens. By that time, both teams had tacked endlessly to get the ball, and Shefki Kuqi had got it and had made it to the Crystal Palace goal.

"Kuqi near the goal now, he's got to get past Spiky Dagbert for the equaliser. He shoots..." There was suspense. Spiky Dagbert jumped to try and catch the ball...

"Saved by Spiky Dagbert!" So the score was still one-nil to the Super Smashers.

Another five minutes, and there was disaster!

"Hammer in possession, tackled by Kennedy... oh, he's gone down quite heavily!" Sam had just got possession of the ball, only to be savagely tackled by Mark Kennedy, which knocked him down to the floor with quite some force, spraining his ankle. The match was halted whilst the medical team checked Sam out.

"He can't play any more. That ankle is sprained pretty badly." one of the medics said. Just as they were about to carry Sam away on a stretcher, he said,

"Just strap it up. I'm gonna carry on. We don't have any substitutes, so I'm gonna keep playin'." The medics strapped up the sprained ankle and helped Sam to his feet. The match then resumed play.

"Even with a sprained ankle, Hammer is still going there. He's in possession, passing to Lindenberg..." Sam had been allowed to take possession of the ball after his injury, but he was forced to pass it to Spiky Alison as his ankle was causing him pain.

"Lindenberg now coming up to the goal. She shoots... SHE SCORES!" After receiving the ball, Spiky Alison had got the ball up to the goal and had got it past David Wilkinson, thus putting the Super Smashers ahead by two goals.

Twenty minutes later, and the Super Smashers scored another goal, nicely slotted in the goal by Sam, despite the fact that he'd sprained his ankle earlier.

The teams kept kicking the ball towards their goal and tackling until the whistle was blown. That meant that it was half-time.

"Ten minutes for half-time!" the referee shouted to both teams as they left the pitch. When the Super Smashers got to their changing area for half-time, Spiky Alison went over to Sam.

"Are you sure you're OK? You seem to be in a lot of pain." she said in a concerned voice. Sam looked at her quite sternly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that we haven't got subs, so I've gotta keep playin', or else we'll be a team member and a captain down. Can't let the team down now." he replied. Spiky Alison moved closer to him.

"I understand. Look, I know a massage technique that might help ease the pain." she wheedled, and so Sam let her massage his ankle. He felt so much better, and he said to her that it had also helped remove his nerves for the second half of the match.

"I say we grab some snacks." Kooper suggested, and so he and Parakarry went to grab some bags of crisps and some glasses of drink to give to the team so that they were prepared for the second half of the match.


	63. Chapter 62

"Ah, come on, Princess! I'm the one responsible for you. If you get hurt, I get grilled. I don't want that." Spiky Pierre said after he had taken Princess Peach back to her room. The princess shook her head.

"Well it's your fault for kidnapping me!" she shrieked, making Spiky Pierre flinch. The Koopatrol left the room and shut the door behind him, sobbing. Princess Peach then decided that she would use the secret passageway to get out again, and she found herself in the library again. This time, it was a lot busier. She would have to be careful. When she was hiding behind the bookcase nearest the door, she heard voices.

"Have you been watching the football?"

"No, why?"

"Spiky Jake's commentating, and Crystal Palace and the Super Smashers are having a match!"

"Oh, who're the Super Smashers?"

"A formed-in-five-seconds football team, lead by..." The voice lowered. "It's lead by Sam Hammer."

"Oh! That means that Mario is playing, too!" Princess Peach gasped. It turns out that Mario is playing football, but what for?

"They're playing for a Cup. The Star Spirit Cup, to be exact." Peach gasped again. She knew that Mario was playing football for the _Star Spirit_! Eventually, Peach got bored of listening to their conversation and headed out from the library and into the main hall.

The main hall of Bowser's Castle was huge and echoey. As Princess Peach stood there, she seemed so small and insignificant. Lines of burning torches illuminated the walls with a warm orange glow and filled the air with a light wood-smoke scent. The princess knew she had to be careful. The hall was spacious, but it also lacked cubby-holes and crevices to hide in. Not only that, but there were many Koopatrols patrolling the area, along with a few members of the Hammer Army.

"They've prepared." Peach said to herself, and then she tiptoed across the hall. But then...

"Halt!" It was the loud voice of a Koopatrol. Peach looked in both directions, and then she bolted towards the nearest door. She hid inside the room she had entered, and from the other side of the door, she heard voices.

"I'm sure Peach came around here." the voice of a Koopatrol said.

"Look, Spiky Kay... are you sure it was Peach? It could've been Bowser playing a prank." another voice said. It was definitely female.

"Bowser! What makes you say that, Lara? Baloney. His Awfulness isn't silly enough to do that!" replied Spiky Kay. Lara sighed.

"Well, he was silly to kidnap Peach AND put Spiky Pierre in charge of her. He's the most emotional Koopatrol of them all!" she shouted, and then she quietly suggested to ask Bowser if he could guard Peach instead of Spiky Pierre. Peach was about to tiptoe out, when...

"Princess Peach! Out again! That half-wit, Spiky Pierre... he'll regret this." Spiky Kay said, and then he grabbed hold of Peach and dragged her back to the room. He left and then turned to Spiky Pierre.

"I want to be in charge of the princess, Spiky Pierre. Anyway, Lord Bowser said I was in charge when we brought her back here!" Spiky Kay shouted. Spiky Pierre seemed quite scared.

"I'm sorry, Spiky Kay. I was drawn to the princess like a bee is drawn to honey. My heart leapt when I saw her." said Spiky Pierre in a romantic tone. Spiky Kay wasn't too pleased.

"You're supposed to guard the princess, not dream of snogging her, you half-wit! That's why I will guard her now. So get lost." Spiky Kay yelled, and then Spiky Pierre left, crying.

"Princess, it'll be the same rules as it was with Spiky Pierre, but I won't just drag you back to the room if you escape. I'll beat you senseless. You got that?" Spiky Kay said through the door. Peach said yes, and then she resumed strolling up and down the room, hoping that Mario was OK...


	64. Chapter 63

After the ten minutes allowed for half time, both the Super Smashers and Crystal Palace returned to the pitch for the second half of the match. The start turned out to be a disaster, as one of Crystal Palace's strikers, Sean Scannell, took the ball and began pelting towards his goal.

"Scannell now in the shooting zone. All he has to do is get it past Spiky Dagbert..." Spiky Jake said for the running commentary. Just as Sean Scannell was about to shoot...

"Scannell tackled by Parakarry... Super Smashers in possession!" Parakarry had tackled him just as he was about to shoot.

It was ten minutes before any of the teams got close to scoring a goal again.

"OK, now it's Parakarry in the shooting zone, passed to Black... now to Hammer. He shoots... HE SCORES!" Sam had scored another goal, putting the Super Smashers ahead by four goals. And there was still thirty-five minutes to go before the kick-out (end of the match).

"Crystal Palace in possession. Kuqi takes it... now to Scowcroft, back to Kuqi, now to Scannell, to Lawrence..." Some nifty ball-passing between Shefki Kuqi, James Scowcroft, Sean Scannell and Matthew Lawrence had put Crystal Palace near their goal.

"Lawrence to Bostock. All he's gotta do is boot it past Spiky Dagbert." Matthew Lawrence passed the ball to John Bostock, who was just about to shoot, when...

"Tackled by Mario! What a team the Super Smashers are! Crystal Palace are having to give 150% effort to keep up with this lot." The Super Smashers were certainly giving Crystal Palace the runaround.

Mario quickly moved the ball away from the Crystal Palace goal and headed towards his own goal. He would have tried for a goal, if it hadn't have been for Tony Craig (a Crystal Palace defender) almost tackling him. He was forced to pass... and fast.

"Mario to Lindenberg, now to Kooper..." Mario passed the ball to Spiky Alison, who then passed it to Kooper. He took it into the shooting zone.

"Kooper now in the shooting zone. He shoots..." The crowd watched enthusiastically as Kooper drew his foot back and booted the ball as hard as he could into the top right-hand corner of the net. He had never played football like this before, but his heart leapt.

"HE SCORES!" came the roar from Spiky Jake. Kooper was hugged by all of his team and he also felt so good. He had been so nervous since he had tried to shoot, and it turned out he had done it! He'd scored.

There were five minutes to go before the match finished, and the Super Smashers had just brought the ball to their goal. This time, Parakarry would be shooting.

"Parakarry now in the shooting zone. Will he score or will the ball be saved? There's only one way to find out! SHOOOOOOOT!" As Parakarry poised himself to shoot, Sean Scannell tried to tackle him. Sam, being of quick-thinking nature, ran in front of Scannell to prevent him tackling. Football is a non-contact sport, so if Scannell had tried to advance further forward, he would have had to push Sam out of the way, which is against the rules of football. Eventually, Parakarry found his courage, and booted the ball as hard as he could, not aiming for any particular spot.

"WHAT A GOOOOOAAAAL! Impressive shot from Parakarry right there. What a Paratroopa!" Parakarry was then hugged a lot more than Sam, Spiky Alison... even Kooper. Parakarry felt so proud of his milestone achievement (he doesn't kick a ball around very often, because he's a postman, not a pro footballer).

"Oh! There's three minutes of extra time!" Spiky Jake said in the commentary after the usual 90 minutes were up. It was going to take a miracle for Crystal Palace to score seven goals in that time.

After the three minutes of extra time were up, the entire Crystal Palace team went up to Sam.

"Wow, your team sure knew what they were doing." James Scowcroft said.

"You should carry on. You'll make big money in the premiership." Shefki Kuqi gasped.

"Thanks, but this was only a one-off match. I can't really run a football team that well." Sam sighed, beginning to walk off into the changing rooms. He was stopped by Sean Scannell, who said,

"You should. I mean you've got some awesome tactics. That'd really liven up football." Sam tried to explain that it was only a one-off match, when the referee came up to him.

"Ah, Mr. Hammer. Great timing. Here's the Star Spirit Cup, as promised." he said, handing Sam a card. Clint Hill was shocked.

"That's all we were playing for? A card? I feel so ripped off." he gasped. Sam couldn't explain the situation, so he left and gave the card to Mario. It turned into the Star Spirit Kalmar, who bestowed his Power, Up & Away (which turns enemies into stars), then left for Star Haven. But before he did so, he told Mario that he had gathered all the Star Spirits, and he could now challenge the power of Bowser and the Star Rod. When all the party had got to the changing rooms, Mario said,

"Let's-a go." and then they all headed back to Toad Town for one last recuperation before the final showdown with Bowser.


	65. Chapter 64

The last couple of times Princess Peach tried to escape from her room, she was caught and dragged back. She thought about what Spiky Pierre had told her. She could get out if Spiky Kay was accompanying her, so she thought that she would use this to her advantage.

"Oh, Spiky Kay, my love... come to me!" shouted Peach through the door of her room. Spiky Kay was rather touched by this, but he couldn't have any feelings for the princess, or he might fall for a trick.

"I'm coming for you, my sweet!" Spiky Kay yelled in reply. He then came through the door to see what Peach wanted.

"What's your need, Princess?" Spiky Kay asked. Peach replied that she wanted to go to the library, so Spiky Kay escorted her there. When she got there, she immediately headed for a shelf of books that looked like they were about escaping. As she scanned the shelf, she saw a tape recorder. It looked like it had been deliberately put there, so the princess took it off the shelf and hid it in her handbag. She then picked up a book off the shelf, sat down on a nearby chair and leafed through it.

"Oh! Spiky Kay, look at some of these idiots." Peach said to Spiky Kay, pointing at a picture of a failed attempt to escape through a toilet. They both giggled whilst they looked through the silly escape stories and glanced at the pictures. They seemed to be getting on so well.

"Right, Spiky Kay. I'm tired. I'd like to go back to my room." Peach said, and so Spiky Kay escorted her back to the room. As soon as she had got to the back of the room, furthest away from the door, she took the tape recorder out of her handbag and looked at it. There was a tape inside.

"Hmmm... I could get some light entertainment from this." she muttered, and then she played the tape. It first sounded like incomprehensible gobbledigook, but she then slowly rewound the tape... and she could hear a message!

_"I don't know who's listenin' to this message right now, but you've gotta know that Bowser is not a proud Koopa king. He's a disaster waitin' to happen. I know of his plans. And the only way you'll be able to know is if you listen carefully to what I'm gonna be tellin' you." _Peach paused the tape and gasped. It was the unmistakeable voice of Sam Hammer! He must have left the tape recorder there, knowing that someone may find it, before he rescued Peach and turned against Bowser. Peach carried on rewinding the tape.

_"Most bad guys repent their sins when they get caught, but not Bowser. He's been goin' after Peach for ages now, and he shows no sign of givin' up. I found out that he doesn't care about Peach, or anyone else for that matter. He's not kidnappin' Peach because he fancies her. So that's why I'm recordin' this tape, hopin' that someone will finally understand why I left this infernal castle._

_At a first glance, Bowser is an ugly old brute who smells bad. But it was whilst I was attendin' a meetin' between myself, Bowser and Spiky Dagbert when I found out Bowser's true reason for kidnappin' the princess. He was doin' it not because he fancied her, but because he needed somethin' to distract the locals whilst he deprived them of somethin' - in this case, it was the Star Rod. Then he was goin' to exterminate everyone, not just the main people of the Mushroom Kingdom, EVERYONE. Afterwards, he was gonna destroy the world, then put a new one in its place. But this one was gonna be worse. Any prisoners that Bowser had captured would be forced to work to death, and both my army and Spiky Dagbert's army would be worked like horses. I couldn't be havin' that, and I hated the sound of it, too._

_It was only a matter of time before Bowser would be askin' me to participate in this horrific massacre. My only choice was to turn against Bowser and get as far away from his terrifying acts as soon as possible. So that's why I'm now gonna turn to bein' a traitor. I don't care if it costs me my life, all I care about is doin' the right thing, and so that's why I'll be helpin' Princess Peach escape the castle._

_Please, whoever's listenin' to this... you heve to understand that Bowser is not just evil, he is heartless, cruel, malicious and cold-blooded. He's gotta be stopped before he takes many innocent lives, and I know I can't do this on my own. Someone, you have to help me."_ Peach stopped the tape. Maybe that's why Sam seemed so inclined to help her. She regretted the fact that she had been a little harsh to him when he had entered the room, and she prayed that she could set it right.

She looked out the window of her room and looked carefully at the ground. It was a long drop - too long a drop for her. How was she to persuade Spiky Kay to let her out of the castle?

"Spiky Kay! Listen to this tape!" she screamed, and then Spiky Kay came in, looking at the tape recorder in her hands.

"OK, play it." he said, and so Peach played it. At first, Spiky Kay wondered what the point of this was, and then Peach rewound the tape. Spiky Kay heard Sam's message.

"What? Sam Hammer knew what Bowser was up to, and he never told anyone? I can't believe I'm helping in that sinister plot of Bowser's. Princess, we have to get out of here." Spiky Kay said, and then he told Peach to hide the tape recorder. He then escorted her to the gardens under the false pretence that he was taking her for some fresh air, but as soon as they were outside, they made a break for the huge thickness of trees in front of them. That lead into Forever Forest, where they would hopefully make it into Toad Town.


	66. Chapter 65

As soon as Mario and Co. arrived back at Toad Town, without Van Dark or Jet (as they had returned to Koopa Village after the match with Crystal Palace), the seven Star Spirits appeared to greet them. Eldstar began to speak.

"Very well done, Mario. But now your true challenge awaits. You must now take the fight to Bowser. We are now together, so we can now bestow upon you the Power to counteract the Star Rod." he said, and then all the Star Spirits focussed their powers and turned them into a new Power that could be used by Mario, the Star Beam. This was the only thing that could have any effect on the power of the Star Rod.

"However, do not underestimate Bowser's strength." warned Skolar, the Star Spirit who had granted Mario the Star Storm Power.

"Strength? If you can call a bad stench _strength_. The guy's a shell-backed idiot." Sam said with an edge of frustration to his tone.

"Yes, but he can breathe fire and he is quite heavy. I'd be careful." Skolar replied to Sam's comment. Then, all the Star Spirits returned to Star Haven. Black then turned to Mario.

"We don't know what to expect, Mario. We should prepare." he snarled.

"Cut the chat, Black. The guy's predictable. He either jumps on you or tries to grill you. He's a pushover, really." said Sam.

"Watch it!" Black snapped. It was unlikely for someone to be able to make Sam go quiet, but Black had managed it without so much as breaking a sweat.

"Sam, what I'm getting at... is that he may have changed tactics since your last encounter. We really should prepare for the worst." Black snarled, and then Sam replied that they should just go for it rather than worry about tactics - he had plenty of those up his shell.

"You know, after that football match, I'm tired. I think we should rest... and also discuss some attacks. We do need to prepare." said Parakarry wearily, and so the party decided to drop by Tayce T.'s house for a quick snack. Tayce T. is a renowned professional chef in Toad Town, and everyone loves her cooking.


	67. Chapter 66

"Sorry if this isn't what you wanted, Princess... but this is the only definite escape route out of the castle." Spiky Kay said as he and Princess Peach ran through a line of bushes into Forever Forest.

"I don't care, Spiky Kay. I just wanted to get out of there." Peach said in reply. As the twosome came to the centre of Forever Forest, they saw a huge mansion - Boo's Mansion. Spiky Kay said he didn't want to go in there, so Peach suggested that they head for the southern edge of the forest.

"I hate forests. There WERE five paths out of Bowser's Castle, but four of them lead you straight back to the castle entrance. This one - the fifth one - was the only one that I knew to be a definite way out." Spiky Kay said in a rather scared voice. Peach tried to comfort him.

"Look, Spiky Kay... you're doing the right thing. You're getting away from the worst disaster on the earth." she said, but Spiky Kay looked at her.

"I've just turned traitor, Princess. That's why I'm uneasier than normal." he whimpered. Peach gave him a comforting rub on the cheek.

"But you have a just reason. And you know why you turned traitor." Peach said, just as the twosome came face-to-face with a Piranha Plant.

"Aggh! I don't fight, I only guard. I'm useless at fighting." Spiky Kay sighed. Peach suggested that he attack like all other Koopas would attack - by throwing his shell. Spiky Kay acknowledged, and then he tried to throw his shell at the Piranha Plant. He missed.

"See what I mean?" Spiky Kay said.

"Don't worry, you're just out of practice." Peach said sweetly. And with that, the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom gets out her parasol and slaps the Piranha Plant with it, dazing it (the Piranha Plant, not the parasol). Spiky Kay threw his shell again, and this time he hit his intended target.

"Yes! I hit it!" Spiky Kay yelled in delight.

"Don't celebrate just yet... it isn't dead yet." Peach said. She got hold of her parasol like a spear and threw it at her adversary. The Piranha Plant recoiled back, just in time to get its head speared by the spike on Spiky Kay's helmet. It then fell to the floor, dead.

"We did it, Princess! You and I make a great team." Spiky Kay said. No-one had told him - or Princess Peach - that there was another Koopatrol following them.

"Hey! You two!" the Koopatrol's voice shouted.

"Oh no! It's Spiky Godfrey! That guy's stuck to Bowser like cold porridge to the roof of your mouth!" Spiky Kay panicked. Spiky Godfrey came up to them.

"Spiky Kay, what're you doing, bringing the princess to this place? Bowser will flip his wig if she gets hurt!" Spiky Godfrey shouted. Spiky Kay told him that he was escorting Peach to Toad Town to do some shopping, but Spiky Godfrey didn't believe him.

"You're helping her escape! Traitor!" Spiky Godfrey yelled, quite scaring Peach in the process.

"Bowser is an idiot! YOU'RE an idiot!" roared Spiky Kay, scaring Peach even more.

"You're more of an idiot... FOR BEING A *BEEP*ING TRAITOR!" thundered Spiky Godfrey, scaring Peach to the verge of tears.

"WELL AT LEAST I HAVE MORE BRAIN THAN YOU, YOU STUPID KOOPATROL!" Spiky Kay boomed, frightening Peach further. The two Koopatrols carried on arguing and shouting. Peach had now burst into tears.

"Bowser will hear of this!" Spiky Godfrey shouted as he headed back for Bowser's Castle. Spiky Kay comforted the princess as soon as Spiky Godfrey had left.

"Sorry if I scared you, Princess. I had to argue with him." he explained. Peach wiped her eyes and hugged him tightly.

"It's OK. Let's go." she said, and so she and Spiky Kay ran towards Toad Town before Spiky Godfrey could return with reinforcements...


	68. Chapter 67

"Good job you came! After all, I was hoping to cook for the great Mario." Tayce T. said as Mario and Co. came in and sat down. Tayce T.'s house was small, but it was cosy and had a very spacious kitchen.

"I'm-a so honoured to-a hear you say that." said Mario in reply. He then sat down at the large wooden table in Tayce T.'s kitchen, neatly laid out with napkins and plates. The rest of the party joined him, and then they all started talking whilst they were waiting.

"Well... it was a good idea coming here." Lady Bow said.

"Sure it was. I mean, Tayce T. is a nice person. And it was Mario's idea." Sam replied. The rest of the party agreed on what Sam had said, and then Mario suggested that they should talk about how they were going to negotiate Bowser's Castle in order to get to Bowser himself.

"For one thing, you've already got four who know the layout of the castle. That's myself, Spiky Alison, Spiky Dagbert and Spiky Joe. We know the castle generally, but we also know other things, but each of us specialises on one floor of the castle. There are three floors - the basement, the ground floor and the first floor. For instance, Spiky Dagbert knows the layout of the ground floor best. Spiky Joe and Spiky Alison know the layout of the first floor best, and I know the basement best, along with hidden nooks and crannies all over the castle." Sam explained. Mario understood it all, and then he gave this knowledge to the rest of the party. They all got it, too.

"Right, so it's simple now, yeah?" asked Spiky Alison.

"Not quite," explained Sam, "as Black was sayin' before, Bowser's probably made some changes to make it harder for us. He wouldn't be able to do any major changes to the castle layout without destroyin' the place. The Star Rod's power only grants wishes - it doesn't reconstruct buildings." Just then, Tayce T. said that food was ready. It turned out to be spaghetti bolognese.

"Oh, that smells delicious!" exclaimed Spiky Dagbert. Watt, Lady Bow, Master Laki and Spiky Joe felt inclined to join in. They then got a portion of spaghetti bolognese each and started eating.

Twenty minutes later, the party had finished eating. Tayce T. cleared the plates away and washed them. Then, she gave each member of the party a small paper bag filled with provisions.

"You'll need lots of energy to beat Bowser, so I've given you all some snacks." said Tayce T. as she handed them out. The party thanked her heartily.

"So, who's up for beatin' Bowser?" asked Sam. Everyone said yes, and so Mario and Co. were off to Bowser's Castle, after Spiky Alison had told them that there was a path to the castle that went through Forever Forest.


	69. Chapter 68

"No escape for you, Peach!" yelled the booming voice of Spiky Godfrey. There were more and more Koopatrol shouts becoming audible to Princess Peach every second.

"Can we keep running from them?" Peach asked Spiky Kay. The Koopatrol shook his head sadly. Peach began to sob. Both she and Spiky Kay had been caught, and now they had to face the consequences. The twosome stopped, giving themselves up for lost.

"The princess is over there. QUICK, YOU LOUSY KOOPATROLS! MOVE!" shouted Spiky Godfrey to the rest of the Koopatrols. They hurried over to where Spiky Godfrey had pointed. When they all got there, they saw Spiky Kay and Peach cowering in front of a tree.

"Oh, Spiky Godfrey! I have apprehended the suspects!" shouted the Koopatrol nearest to Peach and Spiky Kay. The other Koopatrols jeered and then Spiky Godfrey came running to the spot.

"Well done, Spiky Pete. Now, take those two back to the castle. Take Peach to her room and take Spiky Kay to Lord Bowser." ordered Spiky Godfrey, and so Spiky Pete and three other Koopatrols lead Peach back to the castle and the rest of the Koopatrols dragged Spiky Kay back to the castle to go to Lord Bowser.


	70. Chapter 69

"NOOOOOOO! WHAT DID YOU DO?" roared Bowser as Spiky Kay was thrown into the small but nicely laid-out room.

"Look, Your Evilness... I was merely taking Princess Peach for a walk in the woods. She enjoys things like that." whimpered Spiky Kay. Bowser stamped his foot on the floor like a toddler.

"You lie, Spiky Kay. You're doing what FIVE other people in Team Bowser did. Turning traitor." he roared, stomping around the room and grunting. For information's sake, 'Team Bowser' is the other term for Lord Bowser's clan of cronies.

"But at least I have a just reason for doing so." Spiky Kay said in a very confident tone. He then took out the tape recorder and showed it to Bowser. He pressed the Play button.

"Did you turn traitor because I can't record tapes? Is that it?" roared Bowser. Spiky Kay told him to slowly rewind the tape. In doing so, he heard the message left by Sam Hammer.

"So that's it. A tape left by that stupid loser Sam Hammer. Why did you...?" Bowser yelled, and then he began grunting to himself. He then turned back to Spiky Kay, his eyes flaming.

"Y-Your Gnarliness... I..." Spiky Kay began, but Bowser cut him short.

"You want to turn traitor. Fine. So be it. If you insist on turning traitor, I will take your life." sneered Bowser. Spiky Kay cowered, almost on the verge of tears. Bowser then moved closer to him.

"Your Nastiness... let me go. I-I, uh... really want to get back to the normal ways." Spiky Kay pleaded. It was too late - Bowser had already seen that he didn't want to do this.

"No you don't." Bowser said, and then he went to the door of the room.

"GUARDS! Take this traitor to the dungeon and do away with him." he shouted, and then two Koopatrols came over and dragged Spiky Kay to his doom in the dungeon. Bowser then called over another Koopatrol to the room.

"Spiky Tricia... you will guard Princess Peach." he said as soon as Spiky Tricia had entered.

"You're the mighty king, Your Awfulness! It will be done." replied Spiky Tricia, and then she went to Princess Peach's room.


	71. Chapter 70

"Finally. We're here." Sam Hammer said as Mario and Co. approached the door of Bowser's Castle. It had been a gruelling trek to get this far.

"Yep. Bowser's Castle. Mario, give the word." said Kooper, turning to Mario. The other party members followed his example.

"Let's-a go." Mario said, and so the party went up to the door and pushed it open. They were on the ground floor of the castle. Spiky Dagbert reminded the party that he knew this floor of the castle like the back of his hand (in other words, he knew it the best).

"OK. This is the entrance gangway. Not many places to hide here. Very open, which means that any of Bowser's henchpeople will spot us easily. Take it slowly." explained Spiky Dagbert.

"Slowly? Why slowly? Use your brain, Spiky Dagbert! I don't know if you've even thought about this, but Bowser has been working on a master plan. If we don't hurry, it'll be the end of the Mushroom Kingdom as we know it!" Spiky Alison hissed. Then, an intercom buzzed over the party's heads.

"Welcome to my hideout, foolish Mario! You have wandered to your doom, and so have your friends. My Koopatrols will be there to trounce you in one second. Please hold." Bowser said over the intercom, sounding vaguely like a scary receptionist. And, just as he had said, some Koopatrols came over to the party. It was an organised squad of forty Koopatrols, all itching to remove Mario from the picture and help Bowser to conquer the world!

"Only a short greeting, but that's because your lives are being shortened, too. ATTAAAAAAAAAACK!" yelled the leading Koopatrol, and then they all were onto the party. Already, Mario and Co. had succeeded in getting rid of four of them. However, one of the party members was trapped by ten Koopatrols, and that just so happened to be Spiky Dagbert!

"Skewer 'im, guys!" said the leading Koopatrol (the leading Koopatrol of the little group of 40, that is... not Spiky Dagbert).

"But, um... 'e is our leader." another Koopatrol sighed.

"But he's also a traitor to His Nastiness, King Bowser!" said another Koopatrol.

"Quiet, you blitherin' idiots! We'll kill 'im, anyway. Aye, 'e's our leader, but 'e's also a traitor. Can't be 'avin' traitors round 'ere." replied the leading Koopatrol. Spiky Dagbert opened his mouth to scream, when the leading Koopatrol slumped to the floor in a messy heap, struck in the back of the head by a huge sledgehammer, wielded by none other than Sam Hammer!

"You won't be killin' Spiky Dagbert today, you lot. Shove off." Sam ordered, and the thirty-nine remaining Koopatrols ran off.

"Phew! You saved me!" gasped Spiky Dagbert.

"It was nothin'. Most of the Koopatrols are wimpy, emotional morons. Thankfully, we ain't got any of 'em. Spiky Joe, Spiky Alison and yourself are the top three Koopatrols. No wonder they're all so weak-willed." replied Sam with a smile.

"There's plenty more where they came from." said Spiky Dagbert.

"Yes, so let's-a go." ordered Mario, and then the party moved further into the castle. They found themselves in a huge room with lots of boxes all over the place.

"Right. Here's the ground floor storage room," explained Spiky Dagbert, "where Bowser keeps his stuff. There should be a way to get to the first floor from here, but it's been 20 years since I used it, and so I can't remember where it is."

"Hurry up and remember, Spiky Dagbert. Somethin' tells me that Bowser's cronies are gonna be here soon." Sam hissed. Just then, there was a call from Spiky Dagbert.

"Found it!" It was a long, slim, gold-plated lever. Spiky Dagbert told everyone to stand nearby him whilst he pulled the lever, and then he asked Sam to count him in.

"OK. Here we go. One!" The party huddled together.

"Two!" Spiky Dagbert tightened his grip on the lever and readied himself.

"Three!" Sam waved his arm down, and then Spiky Dagbert pulled the lever. There was a low rumbling sound, and then the floor felt like it was... giving way.

"Huh? You told us this thing would take us up. It's gonna take us down!" shouted Kooper just as the floor opened and the party were sent plummeting down, down, down...


	72. Chapter 71

"You idiots! You let that traitor get to you?" Bowser roared as the thirty-nine Koopatrols who had been defeated by Mario and Co. walked through the door.

"Look. Sam Hammer ain't the sort of guy to resist." whimpered one of the Koopatrols.

"Spiky Ed, you IDIOT! You're weak, all of you. Now, Spiky Harry. Where the heck is Spiky Otto?" said Bowser in a gruff tone.

"Spiky Otto? Crud, I don't know..." murmured Spiky Harry. Bowser slammed his fist onto a table.

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT! You were told to keep an eye on Spiky Otto." roared Bowser.

"I'd have to gouge my eye out to do that, Your Grumpiness..."

"DROP THE CHEEK, FOOL! Where is Spiky Otto? Tell me, or your head will be removed from your neck!"

"Well, Your Dastardliness... Spiky Otto was knocked out cold. With a sledgehammer. A big one. Yeah." Spiky Harry said in a very quiet voice. Bowser stamped his foot.

"A sledgehammer, you say? That means... that traitor was involved!" yelled Bowser in a passion of rage. Spiky Ed was brave enough to cut in.

"Which one, Your Evilness? There are four traitors in Mario's gang of goons. You've got Sam Hammer, Spiky Dagbert, Spiky Joe and Spiky Alison." he said.

"We do not talk of traitors here. But, who else besides the first traitor you mentioned would wield a sledgehammer? The Hammer Army are the only ones who deal with anything hammer-related. Not you Koopatrols." Bowser replied in an aggravated tone. The Koopatrols all took a step back.

"Oh crud... he's gonna burn us again." whimpered another Koopatrol. He hadn't forgotten the incident with Jimmy and the whole 'Bowser is a wimpy shrimp' malarkey.

"No. I won't burn you. I'll have to try again, but this time, it's gonna be the Hammer Army going out." said Bowser. The Koopatrols breathed a sigh of relief, and then they left. Bowser laughed as they went.

"Bwahahahaha! Even if Mario and his gang get here, they won't defeat me. For I am invincible!" he roared, and then he went out of the room to talk with Kammy Koopa.


	73. Chapter 72

"Not again. I'm sick of this!" cried Princess Peach as she stomped around her room, trying to think of another way to escape. Spiky Tricia, who was guarding her, popped through the door,

"I'd be sick of keeping an eye on you, Peach. It's only because Lord Bowser has too much to do." Spiky Tricia said. This only annoyed Peach even more.

"Look. Spiky Tricia, do you know where Spiky Kay is?" Peach asked. Spiky Tricia shuffled slightly.

"Yes, but if you try and rescue him... you'll be killed, and so will he. You mentioned Mario before. Surely he'd rescue Spiky Kay for you." said Spiky Tricia in an unusually pitiful voice. Peach gasped.

"You... you've been eavesdropping! Why?" Peach demanded.

"I only want to keep an eye on you." replied Spiky Tricia. She lowered her voice.

"This is just between us, OK? But, what Bowser doesn't know is... I'm on Mario's side. I have been since I found out about him. I joined Bowser's Koopatrol army because I knew he was going to kidnap you. It was a perfect idea. Now I've found out about his plan. Whilst at a meeting with some of the other Koopatrols, I found out that Bowser plans to use you as bait to lure Mario here and then he's gonna flatten him. Look, if Mario's already here, that means he's walked into a trap! But I can't leave my post." Spiky Tricia sighed, and then she began to sob.

"Hey, Spiky Tricia. There is still something you can do. Get another Koopatrol to guard whilst you find Mario. Say that you're aiding Bowser." Peach murmured, giving Spiky Tricia a comforting hug.

Spiky Tricia then left the room and called to another Koopatrol.

"Hey, Spiky Will! Guard the princess whilst I go and find Mario. He's here, and I'll turn him into chow and give his head to Bowser on a platter!" she shouted. Spiky Will went to the door of Peach's room and then Spiky Tricia went down to the basement to try and find Mario.


	74. Chapter 73

"Agh! Where ARE we?" Spiky Dagbert groaned as he shook his head. He had pulled a lever and sent Mario and Co. tumbling into the basement of Bowser's Castle.

"We're in the place I know best." replied Sam Hammer, who was still shaking off the shock of the fall. The rest of the party picked themselves up and brushed down... except Lady Bow and Watt, because dust and grime couldn't cling to them.

"What are you-a talking about?" asked Mario. Spiky Dagbert replied that they had all landed in the basement, and that Sam knew this part of the castle best.

"OK. So, uh, Sam... what's to do next?" inquired Parakarry. Sam replied that they should just walk through the basement - he'll alert the party of any ways out.

So, the party set off and walked along the long corridor next to the room they had fallen into.

"Alright, here's the prison complex. Bowser only uses it for troublemakers and traitors. I found myself in here three times, once for shoutin' at Bowser, then for angerin' Kammy Koopa and then for helpin' you guys." Sam explained. There was a loud shout from the other end of the corridor.

"Sam Hammer, is that you, mate? Get me out of here!" It was Spiky Kay, the Koopatrol who had tried to help Princess Peach escape from the castle a second time.

"We're comin'! Just hang on a sec'." Sam shouted back. He then told the rest of the party to hurry to where Spiky Kay's shout had come from. When they got there, Sam peered into the cell.

"Spiky Kay! I'm here. Come to the front of the cell, because Mario, myself and my friends here are gonna get you out." Sam said. Spiky Kay came to the front of the cell.

"Man, am I glad to see you! I thought I was a goner for sure." Spiky Kay whimpered. Sam looked at him. He had been injured, as though someone had whipped and beaten him.

"Spiky Kay, you've taken a beatin'. Did they torture you?" Sam asked.

"Sort of. But all they yelled was 'traitor' and my name in the same sentence." replied Spiky Kay.

"Huh. Well, who cares. You're bein' rescued, and that's that." As he said this, Sam slipped a small long metal rod into the lock and twiddled it about a bit. There was a metallic 'click' as the lock released.

"See? Lockpickin' skills definitely come in handy." Sam said as he pulled Spiky Kay out of the cell and closed the barred door. From a short distance away, there were shouts. They were getting closer to the party.

"What's going on?" Lady Bow wailed.

"Silence! If they hear us, they'll be onto us. It could be Bowser's minions." Black snapped. I'm afraid to say that his suspicions were correct, as no less than FIFTY members of the Hammer Army came charging in, hammers bared and ready for action!

"There they are! Mario, his gang and the traitors. GET THEM!" the leading member shouted. Sam stepped in front of them.

"You know, you lot have a leader. And that is me. So, I order you to STAND DOWN!" Sam yelled. The members of the Hammer Army didn't listen.

"You're a traitor, Master Hammer! Why should we listen?" said a female voice. It was Chris.

"Well, Chris... it's because I'm your leader, and that's final. Bowser's a lumberin' idiot." replied Sam. Chris didn't get it. Neither did the rest of the Hammer Army. They bore down on Mario and Co. faster than you could imagine. None of the party were ready, but it didn't take long for Mario to take out his Hammer and start hammering out a few differences with the members of the Hammer Army.

After a tiring, 30-minute bout, Mario and Co. emerged victorious.

"Phew! I'm glad that's all over," said Parakarry, "because I'm not much good at fighting."

"Neither am I, but at least we did it!" gasped Watt. As the party began to move further down the corridor, they heard a shout. This time, it was the shout of a single Koopatrol.

"Mario and friends! Don't attack me, I'm here to help!" the voice called. It was Spiky Tricia. She then ran down to greet Mario.

"Hi, Mario. I'm Spiky Tricia. Look, I know why Bowser kidnapped Princess Peach." Spiky Tricia said.

"Well-a, tell me!" replied Mario. Spiky Tricia began to speak.

"Bowser kidnaps the princess in order to lure you here, and then... he'll flatten you." Sam cut in.

"Yeah, but if we go and beat Bowser, he'll stop kidnappin' Peach. What do you say to THAT, Spiky Tricia?" Spiky Tricia shrugged.

"Uh, OK. Well, there's a way up to Bowser's room from here."

"Really? Where is it?" asked Parakarry. Spiky Tricia pointed to a Bowser statue standing near the wall. She said the passage was behind that, but she would need help moving it. She chose Sam and Black to help her.

"I'll count you in." chirped a voice. It was Spiky Dagbert.

"OK, ready yourselves!" shouted Spiky Dagbert. Sam, Black and Spiky Tricia got into position.

"One!" The three of them got ready to push.

"Two!" Spiky Tricia told everyone else to get back.

"Three!" Sam, Black and Spiky Tricia pushed as hard as they could. Instantly, the Bowser statue began to shift aside, revealing a wide, dark passageway. The party jumped for joy.

"No time for celebratin' just yet. Bowser still has to be taken care of." Sam said.

"You're-a right, Sam. Let's-a go." Mario said, and then he led the way into the passage, closely followed by the rest of the party and Spiky Tricia.


	75. Chapter 74

"Why are you here empty-handed? I told you to get me a fat plumber to pummel!" Bowser roared as the beaten members of the Hammer Army came through the door.

"We're sorry, Your Nastiness. Mario KO'd us and good." the leading member said.

"Don't give me that, Daniel. You failed. So that means that you will have to face the music." Bowser sneered in reply. Five members of the Hammer Army started to dance.

"STOP ACTING LIKE IDIOTS!" Bowser roared. The dancing subsided, and then Chris stepped forward to confront Bowser. She was very nervous at the moment.

"Look, Your Evilness..." she began, but Bowser cut her short, saying that he didn't want to hear another lame excuse. Chris began to speak again.

"There's another traitor..." was all she managed to say before Bowser completely lost it.

"ANOTHER traitor? Speak up, Chris!" Bowser yelled. Chris mustered all the confidence she had left and told the raging Koopa king that Spiky Tricia had turned traitor.

"I knew it. Something was wrong with her when she joined me. Thanks for telling me, Chris." Bowser said.

"No problems, Your Fearfulness." Chris whimpered in reply, and then she went back into the group. Daniel (who had led the group) then told Bowser,

"If we couldn't beat Mario, what now? Do we get killed?" Bowser said that he would leave their lives for the moment. He said that he'd try and flatten that fat plumber himself.

"The guy definitely does need to lose a few pounds." giggled another member of the Hammer Army from the back. The rest of them roared with laughter. Even Bowser began to laugh.

"Ha ha ha, yes. I'll squeeze every last ounce of fat off him. Now you may leave." Bowser said, and the members of the Hammer Army left the room, still laughing. As soon as they had all left the room, Bowser called for Kammy Koopa.

"Your Awfulness?" Kammy said as she came through the door. Bowser greeted her heartily, and then said,

"I want that power-increasing machine online. I want to stomp Mario as soon as he gets here." Bowser said to Kammy, and then she crossed over to a small control panel and pushed a big red button. The machine began to whirr into life.

"Your Evilness, the machine is online!" Kammy shouted over the noise, and then she left the room, leaving Bowser in his room.

"Mario is SO gone now! Bwahahaha!" Bowser cackled as he waited for his arch-enemy to come in and try to beat him.


	76. Chapter 75

Mario and Co. finally made it through the passage that Spiky Tricia had led them to, and now they came out into a small but neatly laid-out room. Someone was already here, waiting for them.

"Ah, Mario! You've arrived! I was beginning to worry." It was the gruff voice of none other than Lord Bowser! Mario assumed an angry facial expression and then said,

"You're-a gonna regret this, Bowser! Be a good Koopa and-a hand over the Star Rod and-a Princess Peach. Now, if it's-a possible." Bowser chortled.

"Fool that you are, Mario. You can't beat me. I'm invincible." he said, and then he turned round and brought out the Star Rod. The party all gasped. Bowser inched forward, but the party held their ground. They didn't advance towards Bowser, nor did they retreat towards the passage they had come through. Instead, Mario and Bowser came face to face.

"Invincible or not, I'm-a still gonna beat you and-a beat you good!" Mario shouted. Bowser laughed loudly and then he used the Star Rod to pin Mario to the ground.

"Gwaa ha ha ha ha HA! That's what you get for messing with Bowser, the Greatest of All Time!" Bowser shouted. Sam then sprang forward with only one goal - to get the Star Rod out of Bowser's hands.

"Oh yeah? And this is what you get for messin' with Mario!" Sam shouted as he jumped onto Bowser and tried to pull the Star Rod from his grasp. He couldn't manage it. Bowser then threw him to the floor and pinned him down with the Star Rod's power, too.

"Well, if it isn't Sam Hammer! This wouldn't have happened to you if only you'd have stayed loyal to me." Bowser roared. Sam began to struggle against the magical bond that held him fast.

"You know... you're nothin'... but a... big old Koopa... with no feelin' or thought... and... you're also a... lumberin' idiot. No wonder... I turned against you." Sam panted as he tried to free himself of the Star Rod's power. But he had no magic himself, and so had to struggle in vain.

"You're about to find out how shocking your ideas are!" shouted Watt from the back of the room, and then she zoomed forward and zapped Bowser. The electric shock pierced his defense and sent him reeling, yet it didn't release the magic that bound Mario and Sam to the floor.

"Idiot! I don't need shock therapy!" Bowser roared, and then he unleashed more power from the Star Rod. This time, his whole body started glowing with magic. He had made himself invincible. Watt tried to shock him again, but Bowser batted her away just as easily as you or I would swat a fly.

"Star Spirits! We're-a gonna need your help! We need-a the Star Beam!" Mario shouted, and then the Star Spirits came, swirled around Bowser for a bit and shattered the magical barrier that protected him. And, as an added bonus, Mario and Sam were freed from their magical prisons! Bowser scowled and muttered something about how could the Star Spirits have bettered the power of the Star Rod.

"Right! The power is down! I say we attack now!" yelled Parakarry, and then he flew into Bowser and rammed his shell as hard as he could into him. The Koopa king staggered back, winded. Kooper then threw his shell at Bowser, knocking him onto his back.

"Not fair! I can't get up!" Bowser wailed like a spoilt baby. Sam then stepped over to him and looked into hs menacing eyes. He spoke with a voice that was filled with a passion of hate, a hatred normally reserved for the foulest of enemies that he encountered.

"You know, you don't fight fair. And if you ain't fightin' fair, we ain't fightin' fair either!" he said, his voice making Bowser feel more and more afraid every nanosecond. Lady Bow then floated towards Sam and whispered something to him.

"Right. Now, Bowser. Hand over the Star Rod and Princess Peach and you'll live. If you don't, you'll suffer a terrible fate." Sam said, taking out his sledgehammer, ready to smash, if need be. Bowser chortled, and then said,

"No way. That's low-class villain style." Sam didn't laugh. Nor did he flinch. Instead, his eyes flared with menace and he brought the sledgehammer down on Bowser, winding him.

"Oh, alright! I submit! Here, take the stupid Star Rod!" Bowser shouted, throwing the Star Rod onto the floor near Sam's feet. Sam then picked it up and handed it to Mario.

"Let's-a finish him!" Mario shouted, and so the rest of the party came over and beat Bowser up. When they moved away, Bowser sprang to his feet and laughed.

"Gwaa ha ha ha ha ha! You fell into my trap, losers! POWER UP!" Bowser shouted, and then Kammy Koopa's power-increasing machine worked its power-increasing magic and made Bowser more powerful. Mario looked in horror at the Star Rod that Bowser had discarded and found out it was a fake.

"What's going on?" Spiky Dagbert asked. Mario told him that Bowser seems to have increased his power and also the power of the Star Rod. Speaking of the Star Rod, Bowser used it and made himself invincible again.

"Star Spirits! We're-a gonna need the Star Beam!" Mario shouted, and then the Star Spirits came down. They swirled around Bowser for a bit. But, this time, the magical barrier didn't shatter!

"No! The Star Rod's power has increased so much that the Star Spirits can't do anything!" Kooper shouted in horror.

"There's still something we can do," Black snarled, "because the Stars get their powers from our wishes. If we make a powerful enough wish, the Star Spirits will become more powerful!" Kooper sighed and thought of a wish.

"Come on," Black urged, "think of Mario, the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach, Bowser's downfall... all of them!" Kooper thought harder, and then he made his wish to the Stars. The Star Spirits descended again and tried again to shatter the magical barrier that made Bowser invincible. It worked - the barrier shattered, leaving Bowser looking very angry.

"Yes! I did it!" Kooper shouted. Black patted him on the back of his shell. Spiky Tricia also did the same.

"Come on, he's open for attack!" Black shouted. In seconds, Mario and Co. were onto him, battering him to the floor.

After 15 minutes of constant pummelling, Bowser finally gave in. He handed the Star Rod to Mario... but then there was a problem. Kammy Koopa had come into the room.

"Your Evilness! The power-increasing machine... it's malfunctioning! Quickly, we have to get out of here!" she shouted, and then Bowser pulled himself to his feet and ran over to Kammy.

"You're right, Kammy. But first, we have to block Mario in here." Bowser grunted, but he was too late. Mario and Co. had already escaped by the time Kammy had said the machine was malfunctioning.


	77. Chapter 76

"This is not right. Oh, I hope Mario is OK..." Princess Peach sobbed as she walked up and down her room. Just then, Spiky Will came in to check on her.

"Ah, Princess. Look, there seems to be trouble. We've got to get out of here, quick!" he said. Peach refused, and then she said,

"I'd rather be rescued by Mario!" Spiky Will sighed, and then he went back outside to try and see if Mario was coming for her.

"What was that?" Peach asked herself as a rhythmic thud-thud-thud passed over her head. She couldn't go out of the room to check, so she stayed put, hoping that it was Mario. Three people barged through the door - and they were Mario, Sam Hammer and Spiky Tricia!

"No time for explainin', Princess. We've gotta get out of here before the castle blows!" Sam shouted over the echoey rumbling.

"Let's-a go, Princess!" Mario shouted, and then he took hold of Peach's right hand and pulled her out of the room, with Sam and Spiky Tricia following behind for cover. They darted down the flight of stone steps to the ground floor, where the rest of the party were waiting. Peach gasped softly when she saw Spiky Kay.

"Oh, Spiky Kay! You're alright! I was so worried." Peach whimpered. Spiky Kay replied that it was OK, and then there was a shout. It was Sam.

"Quick! The archway's collapsin'. If we don't get out soon, we're done for. Hurry!" and then the party dashed outside and watched in delight as the castle crumbled into rubble.

"We did it. We defeated Bowser." Black snarled. Princess Peach then led Mario and Co. through a path into Forever Forest, and then they went through and made it back to Toad Town. Mario then called the Star Spirits down.

"Here's-a the Star Rod." Mario said. Eldstar took hold of it.

"Thank you, Mario. We'll make sure nothing like this ever happens again. For now, we'll grant everyone's wishes." said Eldstar, and then he and the other six Star Spirits departed for Star Haven.

"Well, now. At least the Mushroom Kingdom will be at peace for some time. Let us celebrate!" announced Princess Peach, and so she, Mario, Kooper, Parakarry, Lady Bow, Watt, Master Laki, Black, Sam Hammer, Spiky Joe, Spiky Tricia, Spiky Kay and Spiky Alison all went to Peach's castle for a huge party to celebrate their victory over Bowser.

But, it's still possible that Bowser could come back...


End file.
